


We Will Fight

by ColeTReed



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-23
Updated: 2014-10-06
Packaged: 2017-12-24 10:07:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 48,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/938690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColeTReed/pseuds/ColeTReed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Living in fear of the “Lost”, the zombie race, mankind searches for those that can battle these controlled humans and reclaim the United States.  Michael Jones, a scout for the Austin Unit of the CDC Freedom Corps, is behind enemy lines, fighting to retake lost territory.  But…  After a series of events that would forever change his life, the role he once knew as a typical soldier is now forever gone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lifeless

_The zombie apocalypse had not, as many predicted, been the end of the world._

_Far from it, actually._

_Humanity was always safe, with the spread of the “zombies” restricted only within the confines of the United States.  There was no need for any resounding united force of the world to ensure the survival of the human race.  Nor was there any need in summoning forth some foolish bravado about the undying flame of human perseverance._

_No._

_The world was more than content to let the former superpower be devoured from the inside, and to act as a constant source of distraction from the horror.  Former neighbors to the north and south closed their borders immediately, and created an impenetrable wall which none could ever hope to pierce.  Attempts to escape from the sea and the air were met with violent destruction, from the constant vigilance of the European and Russian Navies._

_Scattered and broken in the chaos, the once proud United States Armed Forces lacked the power to overcome this adversity.   Shortcomings in necessary overseas supplies did not help the matter._

_And while Hollywood’s prediction of man’s selfishness in times of great distress was spot on, the monsters they had envisioned for us were not as the world expected._

_The world always portrayed the zombies as shambling corpses from beyond the grave, insistent upon the feasting of human brains.  Once humans, to be sure, but a clear beast that acted as an adversary.  A menace, a scourge upon the world, something that had to stopped._

_Inhuman.  That is the best way my father always described the old time zombies as.  And there is a part of me that finds fear in that sort of thing, but I realize now in my older years that those would have been a far better godsend than the zombie apocalypse we were given._

_For in those big screen worlds?_

_The “zombies” all had a central, unifying theme.  They were unfeeling and uncaring of the world around them.  Silent, voiceless monsters that was incapable of fear.  They were targets easy to shoot without hesitation, because there was no human emotion involved in destroying something that was already dead._

_No._

_That would have been far too easy for us._

_(Excerpt, Memoirs of a Stargazer – Chapter I)_

_________________________________________

_“I…  Will never forget the first time I killed a zombie.  It was just a simple drug run, something that would have typically been a single day’s trip, maybe one night on my own if I was slow.  But it turned into something far more complex.  It turned into a day that forever changed my life.”  - Michael Jones (CDC Freedom Corps, Austin Division)_

_-_

A man stood outside the abandoned remains of a once functional Walgreens, the glass doors boarded up with a tight wood.  As his captain had explained to him, it was one of the few places that might have supplies still within it.  After all, Austin had only become a dead zone about a month ago, and the evacuation happened far too quickly for much looting to happen.

He inhaled deeply, a nervous hitch in his tone.  “Ok Michael, let’s do this nice, simple, and by the book.” The man mutters to himself quietly.    

Michael Jones was twenty five, tall, tanned and well muscled from his seven years at the Atlanta CDC Freedom Corps Camp.  The day had been bitterly cold for November, requiring his tan leather army jacket and long green combat pants.  Emblazoned on its back and shoulders was the CDC emblem, being carried by a small white dove.  His body was tight against the fabric, and it was well fitted for the easiest of maneuvering for his special gear.  Around his waist was a large tool belt, littered with various items.  Adorning it was a miniature compact-able crossbow, an emergency satellite phone belted down tightly, a long expandable crowbar, and a first aid kit on his backside.  On his back was a large rucksack, though completely empty, save for a few rations and sterilized water.  Surrounding his thighs were two large metallic-like boxes that shot diagonally to his feet, looking almost like miniaturized cannons, with a small support attached to his back, which looked like an exhaust port.  Smaller versions of them were strapped to his wrists, looking like a clunky bracelet.   But despite his army like-appearance and supplies, Michael had bright curly red hair, that was a little longer than regulations dictated.  It was a complete contrast to the rest of his professional attire and presentation.  But the camp he’d been stationed with out in Austin wasn’t big on strict dress codes or rules on hair presentation, as long as they didn’t get in the way of the job.  Which his didn’t.

Michael takes no time in ripping the planks from the door, utilizing the compact crowbar from his tool belt.  After pressing a small switch, it expands to a much larger tool, almost the length of his body.  Using his strength and the leverage by the bar, he began removing them with ease, one after another.  Once the glass doors are exposed, he merely has to break the lock off before he can enter the pharmacy and grocery specialty store. 

The lock breaks with a loud THUNK to the ground, and he curses himself for not being quieter.  Looking around his surroundings, he waits for several moments before proceeding, listening carefully.  But eventually, he does enter, pulling the door open as one typically would.  His face smiles brightly, because even in the pitch-black, the payload before him caused a grin to plaster itself over his face. The store was virtually untouched  shelves still fully stocked.

 _JACKPOT._   

He doesn’t hesitate to rush inside, spotting the pharmacist’s area in the back.  First priority in his mission was the drugs, and then he’d snag some rations or cheaper prescriptions that were non-perishable.  Michael takes great care to waddle through the pharmacy cabinets,  taking the meds he’d been clearly instructed to look for first.  Painkillers, antibiotics, and things that would prove invaluable to their unit for long term encampment. 

Michael spends the better part of half an hour stocking, and his bag was very full.  But as he reaches for another bottle, the sound of a loud crash echoes throughout the store.  His entire body tenses, shutting and slinging the almost filled bag across his back, and grabbing the crossbow from his belt.  In a single click, it unfurls, expands and becomes battle ready.  The weapon was tiny, about what many would consider the size of a typical handgun, but was still plenty lethal, and very practical.  He pulls a bolt from the small supply kept attached to his arm, and loads it quickly.  Shifting to one knee, he takes aim with both hands and scans the entire area the noise had originated from.  Making swift, discreet movements, he rushes past the pharmacy counter, and to the aisle he believed the noise had come from.

Sure, enough, at the end of the cereal aisle was a single man, who had dropped a box of food and other small objects that now littered the floor.  We was clutching his head, cursing at himself.  “Shit…  It just gets worse….” the man utters, holding his head painfully, like he had a bad headache.  He was in his early thirties, with dark brown hair.  In a disgustingly blood stained and ripped Texas Longhorn orange hoodie, the man was incredibly thin.  The fabric dangled off him, his jeans in an equally loose fabric.

Michael gasps at the sight.   _A survivor?  Out this far? Has he kept alive this long all on his own?  Austin’s been down for a month now, the Lost are everywhere!  How’d he not get caught?_

He clears his throat, snapping into his military role quickly.  “IDENTIFY YOURSELF!” Michael screams, gaining the man’s attention instantly. 

Spotting Michael, who was carefully moving towards him in a combat fashion with his weapon firmly pointed, the man raises his hands up.  “WHOA!  Wait just a minute!  I just need some food, and I’m GONE!  I saw you break the door open, and I’ve been trying for weeks to get in!  Just let me get the stuff, PLEASE.  I’ll GO, I swear!  I’ve got nothing against the Freedom Corps!” he screams pleadingly, backing up.

He doesn’t lower the weapon, still taking aim at the man carefully.  “You know the drill with us.  What’s your name?  Full name, no nicknames!” Michael states firmly, with a venom in his voice that betrayed the anxiety filling his gut. 

_Please know your name…  For the love of god…  Know your name…  This isn’t my division…_

The man’s eyes look away from Michael’s, to the bottom left of his body, hands fumbling with one and other.  “I…  Uh….Uh…” the man stammers.

_Goddammit_ _.  Say your goddamn name…._

Michael releases the safety on his weapon, the trigger now active.  His finger rests on it, twitching painfully. 

Shaking his head angrily, the man’s whole body is trembling.  “I…  I HIT MY HEAD!  I don’t remember it!  YEAH!  I HIT MY HEAD!  PLEASE!  Just don’t kill me!  Oh god…  You can’t kill me!” he stutters out nervously.

He sighs, closing his eyes just for a moment.  Michael’s heart aches and his stomach drops violently.  “Then what city are you in?  Even if you hit your head, surely you know that much.” Michael mutters, knowing very well what the man would say.

The stranger’s face is strained, looking around himself for a sign.  His composure is weakening, almost at near hyperventilation.  “I HIT MY HEAD!  I DON’T KNOW WHERE I AM!  BUT I’M FINE!  YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME!” he screeching, beginning to sob painfully.

Michael shakes his head, his composure wavering.  “Sir, you don’t even know what’s happening to you, do you?” he states painfully.

The man’s body begins convulsing, and his hand shoots to the very back of his head, his face clenched in an agonized pain.  “W….What?” he mustered, in a confused state.

He lowers his weapon for a moment, looking at the man with pity in his eyes, his expression distraught.  “You’re in stage one.  You must have gotten bit or come in contact with one of the Lost.  Drank contaminated water or ate some bad food, happens that way too.  But the parasite is inside you now, eating away at your brain.  It always munches on the part controlling memories first, so…  People always forget their names, become confused as to where they are just generally dazed at first.  Makes it easier for the parasite to take over everything else, really.  Without an identity, you’re easier to manipulate.  You’ve got about another week before you hit stage two.  That’s where you start craving food like crazy.  To feed the thing that will have moved to your stomach by that point, leaving behind a control mechanism in your brain.  But…  Regular food won’t last it long.  You’ll want something bigger…  So then you hit stage three…  You’ll eat animals.  Rodents.  Livestock…  Anything with a heartbeat and blood, that’s what the thing loves most.  And then finally…  Stage four, where you crave humans, and by that point, you’re a full fledged Lost…  The last stage?  Well…  I don’t even like talking about that, but you won’t get there, so…  Be thankful for that…” he explains, the speech more for himself than the man.  Rationalizing the decision before him, his body shivers, a cold washing through his typically warm attire.  Shaking, the warm army jacket does nothing to halt the nonexistent wind from ripping into him. 

_I’m a scout.  Surveillance.  Rescues.  Not part of cleanup…  Not part of the front lines…  I didn’t sign up for this, goddammit…  I’m not supposed to kill these things…_

The man before him becomes hysterical at this point, the parasite likely instigating self-preservation measures.  Even in early stages, the bug had a strong hold on humans, using the greatest tool afforded to the Lost.

The man flings himself onto the floor, huddled over in a begging manner.  “No!  No!  You can’t kill me!  I’m a father, I have a little boy named Gavin!  He’s just seven, he won’t survive by himself this far out!  He already lost his bitch mother, don’t make him lose me too!  PLEASE, I beg you!  PLEASE!  You have to let me go!  I won’t bite anyone!  I’m in control, I SWEAR IT!  PLEASE!” he screams, tears now flowing down his cheeks.  The man is sobbing hysterically, attempting to warrant sympathy from the living. The enemy knew it, and seven years of training was screaming in his head to ignore it.  Because they weren’t human anymore.  It was the bug talking.

Michael steps backward.

_They sure sound like they’re human…  Jesus Christ…  This is worse than the videos…_

Guilt washes over Michael, wondering how much of the story was true.  He wondered if there even was a kid named Gavin, or if it was just a fabrication.   That was entirely possible.  The parasites were smart.

His breathing becomes labored, and he makes another step backward, his confidence faltering.

_I…  I can’t do this…  He’s still….  
_

He slams his foot against the floor, stopping his backwards retreat.  Michael gulps, remembering his oath.

_No…  You can’t, he’s not human anymore.  Even if you’re not part of the main forces, you still have a duty to perform.  It’s why you signed up for this shit, and you made a promise. “ To reclaim the dead zones we have lost, and to work towards freeing America from the Lost menace.  For the people who can’t fight, and for those who have died…  It is because of you…  That others can live.”_

Michael raises the crossbow, moving forward once more.  “I’m so sorry.  But I can’t let you live.  You’re a liability to the rest of the city if I let you go.  You’ll bite or fuck someone and spread the parasite’s offspring at some point.  Making the problem spread further is exactly what I am here to fight.  We already lost half the goddamn country, we are NOT letting it get any closer to Atlanta than it has too.  I’m so sorry.  I’ll bury your body and give you a proper last rites when this is over.” he finishes.     

The man raises his head up, mouth opening wide, revealing a fang-like set of teeth, far more brutal looking than any normal humans.  He hops from the floor, dashing at Michael angrily.

With a single pull of his weapon’s trigger, a steel bolt fires from it like a bullet, but quietly.  The distance between the crossbow and the man’s skull was covered in mere seconds, forcing the man’s neck backwards painfully.  The CRACK of the metal piercing the bone of the skull was deafening to him, and he looked away the moment the deed was done.  Without checking, Michael knew he was dead on impact, even before he hit the floor.

After what felt like ages, there was an audible thud to the floor.  Michael composes himself, and looks to confirm his kill.

The man’s head leaked a solid black fluid out of his eyes and head wound.  Out of his ear, a small, blob-like black sludge begins slowly plopping outwards.  The thing was attempting to pull itself out. 

Relief washes over Michael, his body relaxing.

_So…  You were a Lost._

The blob finally escapes from the ear cavity.  It was young, so only about the size of a highlighter, and was sliding away slowly, like a slug.  Stepping forward, Michael slams on it with a vengeance.  His combat boot squished it instantly, bursting it like a small balloon.  Besides a grey and silvery liquid, particles of the man’s brain spewed out from the remains of the slug-like creature.

Michael shakes his head, spitting on the thing’s now liquid remains.

_Disgusting piece of shit…._

It was the offspring of a bug that had the United States at its knees since the early 1980’s. Known as “Spawn”, it was a parasite that infected the human brain.  It turned humans into their puppets, eventually gaining complete motor control of them and their brains.  All they sought was feasting, reproduction, and spreading their young into new human hosts. 

Michael breaths deeply, attempting to calm himself.

 _It’s over…  We’ll close up the door, find some rations, and-_  

"Daddy?" says a young man’s voice.  A child. 

Holding his breath, Michael turns around, peeking from the angle of the aisle.    Propping the front glass door to the pharmacy open was a young boy.  No older than seven or eight.  With long sandy brown hair sticking through a tiny baseball cap, in a tattered green jacket and loose-fitting jeans hanging off him, he stood a thin, emaciated child.

His heart drops.

_Oh dear god…  A kid…  Out here too?_

The boy looks around, but goes in the opposite direction of Michael and the man’s corpse.  “Daddy?!  Did you find food?!  DADDY!?” the child exclaims loudly, each scream for his father getting louder.  As panic sets in, the boy’s face becomes red, tears forming.  “DADDY!  DON’T LEAVE ME!  DADDY!?  WHERE ARE YOU!?” he screams.

 _“I HAVE A SON!”_  the earlier man screamed, the voice echoing through his head.

_Oh my god…  No…_

Looking down at the dead body, he noticed what he’d been grabbing at.  He’d selected a children’s cereal, Fruity Pebbles, with a prize inside.  The man had a stack of other small treats at his feet.  Spaghettios, a still packaged can opener, SpongeBob Fruit Snacks, and a small teddy bear with a big red bow from the toy aisle.

Horror sets in Michael’s face, and his stomach attempts to regurgitate the little he’d eaten that day.

_No….  Nonononononononoono…_

Michael retrieves the bolt from the man’s skull, wiping it off on the man’s shirt.  His gloved hand slides it back into the weapon, clicking loudly.  He re-engages the safety mechanism, put keeps the weapon behind his back at the ready.

 _Oh my god…  Please…  Please be ok…_  

Walking the back way around the aisles, Michael steps in front of the child, stopping him from the bloody sight behind him.   Gripping the weapon to his side, he doesn’t raise it at first.   “Don’t be afraid.  My name is Michael Jones, and I am with the United States CDC Recovery Army.  Austin branch, I’m a scout and part of search and rescue, under the command of Geoffrey Ramsey.  Little boy…  What’s you’re name?  FULL NAME” he attempt to convey calmly, but he’d lost the militaristic tone of voice halfway through the practiced speech. 

The boy looks up at him, and Michael takes in his emerald eyes.  Despite the rest of his body looking like a skeletal corpse, the child’s eyes held something within them that Michael had not seen in a very long time.

The child steps backward, nervous at Michael’s surprising appearance and overwhelming presence.  “My name is Gavin…   Gavin David Free.  Have you seen my daddy mister?  He’s in a orange shirt with a cow on it.  Daddy was gonna bring me breakfast and a special surprise cuz he missed my birthday last year!” he mutters sadly, wiping away the earlier tears of panic, embarrassed.

Looking to the side behind him, he notices the blood-stained bear being overtaken by the now disgusting pool of blood.  The man’s hand had landed on top of it, almost gripping it.  Michael’s body is lifeless, and a feeling of emptiness turns his normally tanned body a pale white.

"I….  I….." he stutters.

Gavin moves forward, grabbing his hand.  “Mr. Army Man?  You’re RESCUE?!  Can you save me and my daddy?  Please?  We’ve been out here a long time by ourselves!” he says, pleadingly, but so full of hope.  He looks around, nervously.  “Daddy should be in here somewhere, and he’s real sick too!  We need a rescue!  So can you take him to a doctor first?  PLEASE?  PLEASE? PLEASE?” the child begs, now shaking his hand desperately.

He would never be able to forget the first time he killed a zombie.

Because it was the same time he made a small child an orphan.


	2. Weightless

_Nobody is sure where “The Spawn” originally came from. In the early 1980’s, a surprisingly large number of people became openly hostile on the beaches of California._  
 _Originally considered to be an outbreak of rabies, further medical investigations revealed a dark black “sludge” inside the hippocampus of the human brain. A recurring theme of many patients that were (forcibly) quarantined showed that they began lacking an episodic memory. And each one had the same, frightening realization._  
 _They no longer knew who they were, or their names._  
 _This last great scientific discovery before the “Dark Autumn” was a herald for the overall survival of the citizens in the United States. This infallible distinguishing factor between what was human, and what was a Lost would play out to be the saving grace in the coming years. For by the time the truth about “The Spawn” was realized? It was far too late for anyone to do anything about it._  
 _(Excerpt, Loveless – Chapter II)_  
_______________________  
 _"That first night with Gavin was incredibly cold. It wasn’t the air though. Nah, my clothes were grade A military insulated, winter style. The coldness was from my blood, frozen over completely from what I’d done. What I had done was "right" in one way, because I was responsible and helped stop the spread of "The Spawn". But that didn’t matter at all. I made that boy an orphan, and now had a firm responsibility to him. To make up for what I could never return to him." - Michael Jones (CDC Freedom Corps)_  
-  
Michael stared at the child’s hopeful, bright expression. Even in such a state that he found himself in, the boy named Gavin still maintained a youthful optimism. He grabbed Michael by the arm, pulling him into a nearby aisle. “Come on Mister! We’ll get my daddy and go somewhere safe!” he exclaims giddily.   
Still in a state of stupor, Michael doesn’t realize as Gavin releases his grip and rushing past him and into the aisle he’d previously been. Quickly catching his mistake, Michael snaps out of it, grabbing at Gavin, but missing just barely. “Gavin NO!” he whispers loudly.   
It’s too late, unfortunately, as the boy stopped mid-run to see the corpse lying lifelessly against the ground. No noise leaves the child’s lips, and his body freezes in place.   
Michael runs to his side, laying a hand gently on his shoulder. “Gavin…. You daddy was-” he begins to speak quietly. His voice, however, trails off at the end.  
The child merely shakes his head painfully, small sniffs and sobs leaving his throat. “D….Daddy…” Gavin says, and tries to run towards the man’s corpse. Michael grabs him by the scruff of the neck, picking him up effortlessly.   
The boy is so weak and light weighted that he can’t put up much of a fight, and Michael begins walking away with him flung across his back. Hoping the boy wouldn’t see the carnage up close and alert any nearby lost, he begins patting his back softly to soothe him. “Shhh… It’s ok Gavin, calm down! Keep quiet, we don’t want to-“he begins, the child kicking away at him.  
"DAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDY! DAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDYYYYY! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I WANT MY DADDY!" the boy screamed loudly, creating a high pitched echo throughout the entire store. The scream was tremendously overbearing, likely heard throughout the entire silent streets of the town.  
Michael’s eyes widen, and he covers the boy’s mouth immediately. “SHHHH. You moron, you’ll attract the-“  
A loud, screeching wail echoes in the distance outside the building. It was shrill, shrieking and high pitched. The noise was one he’d hope to never encounter in the field as long as he lived. Michael’s blood runs cold again, color evaporating from his body, and a deep sweat covering him in an instant.  
 _Oh shit…._  
He wastes no time. Putting Gavin against his chest, he straps him in using a set of simple click-harnesses hidden beneath his jacket. They were used primarily for rescue attempts and would support a fully grown adult.   
Once the boy is securely fastened, Michael insures that his rucksack is sealed tightly shut and secured on his back. Ignoring the sobbing protests of the boy still kicking at him, he makes his way back to the entrance of the building.   
Walking outside from the darkness of the pharmacy, the sun was setting on an otherwise gorgeous November evening. It was quiet, and the orange light glinted off the glass windows of the small, abandoned town.  
It was a Kodak sort of moment, remembering the old saying his mother used to say.  
As Michael steps completely out of the building, his vision adjusting, the man takes in the sight around him. And it was… Terrifying.  
 _Jesus fucking Christ… I have never seen this many of them in one place…_  
Thirteen of them. All of them were stage five Lost, known as Sirens. The name coming from the bloody wail that notified the location of new human hosts. Their skin was melting off their bodies, the Spawn finally resorting to eating the very flesh of their hosts for nutrients. Bones, turned into a dark ebony from the final stages of transformation were exposed on many of them. Open muscle exposed everywhere, they were barely human anymore.   
One of them, a teenage girl, raises her hand up, the bone of her finger protruding out from the skin. She grinned. “The boy… The man… Bring them to father…” she says in a soft, venous voice. The other sirens of various genders and ages begin shambling towards Michael, all muttering various sentences he couldn’t quite make out.  
Michael shakes his head in disbelief, wiping the sweat now forming on his body. But a small hiccup quickly returns his attention down to the boy strapped on his chest. “Daddy…” Gavin sobs weakly. His already tired body was made even more exhausted from his explosive sorrow, hanging limply against the harness. Michael merely hugs him tightly to his body, attempting to comfort him.  
He moves his head slightly down to just outside the boy’s ear. “Hold on tight kiddo, this is going to be a bumpy ride. I’m winging this shit, never been here before, barely scouted it, so this SHOULD be fun!” he utters in a panicked tone. Flipping a small switch on the boxes around his legs and wrists, a loud whirring sound can be heard, almost like an electric engine starting. At the same time, small levers shoot from his arm sleeves, the man gripping them with his palms.  
As the Lost finally finish their fast sprint towards them, Michael grips the lever in his right hand tightly. A set of long, metallic tethering wires shoots from the slim boxes around his thighs, with grappling hooks adorning the ends of them. The hooks land firmly into the side of a building, securing themselves automatically. Gripping the hand lever once more, the cords begin retracting back into the firing mechanism. With the wires stuck firmly into he walls, however, physics take over, propelling Michael forward, like a slingshot. A streaming jet of hot air from the back support hastens the process, shooting him forward into the air like a bullet.  
Just as the fastest lost comes within striking distance, Michael grins. “See ya!” he says all too cockily, using his foot to jump off the Siren’s skull as he whizzes by at a hastened speed.  
____  
“See ya!” the army man says.   
Suddenly, Gavin feels as though they’re moving REALLY fast. The cold wind ripped through his jacket, and his baseball cap flies off him, revealing a set of light golden hair, whipping in the breeze.   
Looking up, the boy took in the world around him. A black birdie zipped by them. One of those big golden “M” signs was right next to his head, flying by with barely a blur.   
The child blinks a few times, confused.  
Am…. I?…   
As realization hits him, Gavin’s face pales. He turns downward with an awkwardly slow pace, past the man’s feet. Much to his expected horror, the ground was VERY far away from him, moving past them at super speeds. Wires kept flinging in and out of the army man’s boxes, and they were swinging all over the town’s rooftops, high above the ground.  
We’re… FLYING?!  
Gavin screams as loudly as his tired voice could muster, hiding his face back into Army Man’s chest, gripping him as tightly as he could. Holding on for dear life, the child’s fingers pinch firmly into the man’s body.   
A firm hand is placed onto his neck, and he’s tucked more tightly inwards. “Hang in there kiddo. When we get away, I’ll park us on a roof somewhere. Buuut, they’re still chasing us.” He yells loudly above the streaming air.  
Gavin’s eyes shoot open, and he looks behind them. The scary black monsters were running after them, and a lot of “people” were too.  
As they reach a corner, Gavin feels the man’s hand leave his body. Looking forward for just a minute to peek, a really long stringy thing flew from his wrist, into a building. The strings that had been pulling them from his legs were disconnected, and they swing horizontally into another street, swinging only the wrist wire. It’s such a fast swing that Gavin’s face turns green. More of the strings shoot from Army Man’s sides, and they’re flying again in a single direction once more.   
The Army man pats him on the head. “Probably another half hour, hang in there. Please don’t vomit on-“  
But the child expels a small amount of bile in a loud retch, covering a portion of Michael’s shirt immediately. The man groans quickly. “Never mind…. I deserve that…” he mutters quickly.   
____________________  
They finally landed on a roof, not very far from where they’d started the adventure. About half an hour of flying around town on the building tops with his rappels was enough to confuse the lost. Soon enough, they gave up, losing their constantly moving scent. Darkness had fallen when he unbuckled Gavin, the child jumping to the safety of the floor.   
Switching off his gear, the electric engines shoot a burst of steam from each of Michael’s sides, cooling the insane heat that the gear gave off. He fell on his bottom, entire body aching from the constant movement and aerobatics that the Trinity Gear required.  
"Uh oh…" Gavin muttered, looking from the edge of the building, pointing.   
Michael begrudging stood up, wobbly legs barely managing to make his way over to the edge. But as he does, he sees the entrance to the drug store he’d scavenged in early. And quickly, he cursed himself for not shutting the door back behind him. Rookie mistake, and he’d just lost his company a safe source of food and frequent pharmaceuticals. Outside of the building, Lost were already swarming it, eager to eat, consume and please the Spawn hosts residing in their brains.   
He scanned his face around the area, breathing a sigh of relief as he looks to the region next to the drug store. His face relaxed, and his body felt far lighter. Thankfully, the long motorcycle with attached passenger cab he’d come on was safe, still hidden in plain sight far across the street outside of the lost reach. At least he’d been smart enough to park it away from the target point for a safe getaway. Only a few Lost were even remotely close around it, and he could quietly dispatch them before they made their eventual escape.  
"I feel sick…" Gavin says quietly, holding his stomach.  
Michael dropped down, checking the child more closely for once. “Where’s it hurt? Did you eat-“  
Before he had a chance to answer, the child vomits a clear, yellowy liquid from his body. Not an ounce of food in it, likely regurgitated stomach acid.  
Wiping his mouth, Gavin looked down shamefully. “I’m… Sorry.” he muttered quietly.  
Michael pulled out a cloth from his pocket, wiping the child’s mouth. “It’s okay, don’t even worry about it, but Gavin.. When’s the last time you ate?” he asked worriedly.  
Gavin got a bright smile on his face. “Last week daddy found a candy bar in a lady’s purse in the street! He let me have it all, cuz we hadn’t found any in a long time! It was REALLY good, Daddy was real nice to-.” he explained, losing his smile quickly. Memories of his father stabbed through his chest, and he clutched his heart.  
Michael wastes no time in pulling out his rucksack. Digging through it quickly, he grabs a tiny tin can. He hands him the square can, popping the metallic top for him. Inside of it was a set of fifteen or so crackers. “Eat that. Can’t feed you too fast, you look like you’re in starvation right now, and you’d get really sick. Sorry it sucks, but that should be better than nothing.” He says. Gavin scrambles for them, stuffing two or three in his mouth immediately. Crumbs fly over his body, and he reaches for more.  
Good god…  
It wasn’t an uncommon sight. Sad as it was, whenever they did find survivors, most were in a state like that. Food never lasted forever, and with the supply chain long since destroyed, the common citizen couldn’t find anything.  
The two sit in silence, and the sun slowly began to set over the land. With the lowering of the sun, a colder chill overlaps the area.   
Seeing Gavin shiver and snuggle up next to him, Michael roots through the side of his sack, finding a neatly folded and bound blanket. Unwrapping it, he throws it around the kid, covering him from head to toe. “Bundle up, it’s cold out here. I don’t want you getting sicker.” He mutters quiet, feeling his own insulated body chilling in the cold of November.  
“Thanks mister.” Gavin said sleepily, yawning loudly. Resting his head against Michael’s shoulder, he pointed to Michael’s waist. “What’s that thing, that makes us go flying?” he asks curiously.  
Michael pats it proudly, grinning. “Trinity Maneuver Gear, which was invented by the army in 2008. Only useful since 2010 when people actually learned how to use them and got proper training. Took me 5 years in boot camp back in New York to get physically fit enough to use it.” he explained simply, deciding to not go into the deeper details of the mechanisms.  
Tilting his head, he looks at it with wandering eyes. “How’s it work?” he asked.  
Laying his head back down against the edge of the building, he yawned himself. “It shoots tethers with little hooks in them that slings us around towns, forests or housing districts, letting us rescue people quickly and escape. This is an older hand-me-down model, but works really well. Had it since I joined, and did my training with it. Ol’ Ganon here’s got me out of a lot of bad spots.” he explained, shutting his eyes to rest.  
Gavin’s ears picked up on the last bit. “You rescue people? Are you a superhero like Spiderman!?” the boy asks innocently, but excitedly.  
Michael turns away. “Nah… I’m no superhero, just someone who’s doing his job.” he replied darkly, memories of his earlier “job” still fresh in his mind.  
Shutting his eyes, Gavin snuggled more tightly under the warm blanket. “Couldn’t you use a tank instead? I’d use a tank.” he offered, smiling at his intelligence.  
Michael chuckled. “Doesn’t work like that. Costs a lot of money to work tanks, and gasoline is VERY hard to come by these days. So any unit that’s not part of the front line defense or part of protecting Atlanta won’t get any. Especially my unit.” he explained, groaning internally.  
Shifting curiously, Gavin opened his eyes and looked back up at Michael. “Why not you?” he asked.  
Sighing, Michael rubbed his face at the endless questions. “We’re not… For one, we’re out in a Lost zone. We’re not the most important thing, since all our job is to look for survivors, and try and win back land for mankind. BUT we barely do jack shit, so our funding is minimal. Honestly, we do most of food supply scavenging for ourselves. For two, we’re not an official branch of the Military. We’re part of the CDC’s Recovery Army, and answer to someone with a lot less authority.” he said, a realization striking him. Turning to look at Gavin, he ruffled the kid’s messy hair. “Now Gavin, I hate to ask, but… What were you and your father doing out here? This is a restricted Lost zone. All US residents were evacuated years ago when we lost the battle of Dallas.” he asked politely.  
His face drops, turning away from Michael. “Daddy said we were on vacation. That we had to run away from home and try to be real safe and not get caught!” Gavin said.  
“Caught by who?” Michael retorted, curiously.  
Gavin shrugs. “I don’t know. I think the monsters, cuz daddy always told me to stay far away from them. Or maybe my mommy? Daddy didn’t like mommy.” he explained more to himself than to Michael. In the same strain of thought, Gavin shut his eyes. “Mister… Where am I gonna go? I don’t wanna stay by myself at home here. The monsters will get me… Eventually.” he says pitifully. His voice was shaking, and fear overwhelmed his tone.  
Michael smiles, pulling him into his lap to comfort him. “You can come back home with me. I live in the Austin Dead Zone Advance Army Camp, and there’s plenty of room. We take in survivors all the time, and I’m sure Nurse Caiti will take good care of you. Now, I’ll have to ask my wife, but I’ll see if you can come live with us. If not, then I’ve got a good buddy Ray who might take you.” he said, patting Gavin on the back.  
Jolting out of Michael’s arms, Gavin began looking around nervously.  
"Gavin? What’s wrong? Do you want me to-"  
"They’re coming…" Gavin says, breathing in deeply.  
Michael turns to him. “Heh? Whos’ coming?  
"The black monsters! They’re coming!" Gavin screamed nervously, running towards Michael and slamming on the Trinity Gear. "Come on! We’ve got to go!" he said fearfully.  
He chuckles, rubbing the kid’s shoulders. “Kid, I haven’t heard any screams, we’re fine. Come lay back down. You really need some rest.” Michael says, rubbing the child’s head.  
P _oor kid… Gotta get him home tomorrow morning, he’s losing it._  
The door leading to the top of the roof began banging violently. Wood splintered off the door to the roof, and the meager barrier wouldn’t hold for very long.  
“They’re here!” Gavin says, gripping Michael tightly.


	3. Priceless

_One of the unspoken problems that the Lost  created in society was the concept of trust.  Lost were, for all intents and purposes, human.  Monsters, of course, but still humans who were merely being controlled by some unspeakable horror.  So naturally, society began alienating from each other, never knowing if or when your best friend might “turn”.  Long after the Lost were finally contained, psychologists diagnosed this feeling as “Lost Syndrome”, or the mental state of being unable to trust other humans to any degree.  What was merely a instinctive defense intended for survival, created a psychological disorder that survivors are still dealing with to this very day.  -  Loveless, Chapter III_

_______________

_“_ _I’ll never forget the first night I stayed with Michael.  It was the first time I ever had a good night’s sleep and meal since my father and I fled California.  The people were so kind, so generous.  I felt safe.  Of course, that feeling didn’t last for long, but that brief moment of peace was a priceless experience.” - Gavin Free, Civilian Account_

_-_

After the second banging against the metal door, Michael snapped back into action. Adrenaline ran through his veins, and he wasted no time in grabbing Gavin and pulling him into his chest. Snapping him into the harness, Michael flipped his gear on, and jogged towards the ledge of the building, hopping on top of the railing.

“Hang on Gavin, we’re doing something really dangerous. I’m not supposed to fly at night, but we don’t have any choice.” Michael said, securing his rucksack onto his back, and insuring it was zipped tightly.

Groaning, Gavin shut his eyes. “I hate flying!” he screamed loudly, his voice echoing as Michael jumped off the roof, and tethered his cords on a building opposite of him.

Swinging downwards, Michael made a quick turn into a side street, nearly fainting on the spot. To say there was a horde of Lost would be an understatement. There were at least five to six hundred Lost grabbing into the air, hopelessly trying to reach them.

_Holy shit. I have NEVER seen this many Lost in Austin. It’s like the goddamn front lines!_

Shaking off the horrible thought, Michael maneuvered himself skillfully through the street, finally reaching the area he’d been moving towards.

“Gavin, listen up. I’m going to land on the ground, take out the few Lost when we land, and we’re getting on a motorcycle. Close your eyes, don’t watch, and try not to puke again.” Michael ordered, swinging on his wrist gear, and lowering down on a wire towards the paved roadway.

As soon as he landed, Michael reached for his expandable crossbow, and unfurled it. Scanning the side street, there were three Lost in his way. Taking aim, Michael fired his crossbow, nailing one in the head before it even noticed him.

“Wait! Wait! Don’t kill me! I’m okay!” a female lost said in a gargled tone, sobbing hysterically after she realized Michael was there. Her face was rotting off, her jawbones clearly visible.

Hesitantly, he loaded a second bolt into the crossbow, aimed up and fired. The bolt shot through the air, striking her in the skull.

“PLEASE! I HAVE THREE KIDS! I’M NOT LOST! I’M JUST… I’M JUST…” an older male Lost screamed, falling to his knees and begging in front of the motorcycle that he’d arrived on.

Grabbing another bolt, Michael loaded his weapon.

“M…Michael, don’t kill him! He’s someone’s daddy!” Gavin said meekly, peeking out of his eyes.

A pain in his gut caused him to shirk backwards, and Michael lowered his weapon for only a second. In that second, the begging Lost shot forward like a rocket, bearing its teeth.

Gavin screamed, covering his face out of fright.

A protective instinct flared in Michael, and he covered Gavin’s eyes with his free hand, raising his crossbow and sniping the Lost in the skull, ending its pain.

Crying loudly, Gavin’s tears brought Michael back to earth, and he put away his weapon. He reached into his pocket, pulling out the wireless key set, and pressing its button. The bike came to life, and Michael swung his legs over it, positioning him in a riding stance. Revving the engine, he darted down the side street, moving onto the main highway that would lead back to Austin.

-

Riding in silence for the better part of an hour, Gavin tried to stop crying in front of the army man. Daddy always told him not to cry, because everything would be okay in the end. They’d find someone to save them, and he’d never have to worry about dying or being fed to the monsters.

“You okay? We’re getting closer to home, so we should be safe really soon.” Michael finally managed to say, looking down at him and ruffling his hair.

Gavin twitched at the touch, and turned away from him. “Y…Yeah. I guess.” he stuttered, fearful of the man.

The soldier caught onto this, and set the cruise control on the motorbike. “What’s wrong? Come on, tell me. I’m with the army, you’re not allowed to lie to me.” Michael said playfully.

Huffing, Gavin folded his arms. “You killed those people, you shot them in the head! How could you do that!?” he yelled, sniffing back his nose.

Michael sighed, making a wide right turn on the Austin exit and beginning to move into the city limits. “Gavin, I don’t know how to explain this, but… Do you know what the Lost are?” he asked curiously.

Nodding, Gavin looked away. “They’re the monster-people that want to eat me. They’re bad things, and I’m supposed to run away if I see them.” he replied in a rehearsed manner.

“That’s right Gavin, you’re a smart kid. Those people I had to kill were Lost, and I felt really bad about doing it too. But they were the monster people that wanted to eat us, and I didn’t have a choice. I know they didn’t look as scary like other ones, but they were, I promise.” Michael said carefully, and in a non-threatening tone.

Unconvinced, Gavin shook his head. “How did you know? For sure?! Daddy said I was supposed to ask ‘em for their name, and that’s the big test!” he said accusingly, almost in an angry voice.

Michael chuckled. “Gavin, I’ve been in the army since I was sixteen. I know how to spot lost more quickly than just asking their name. The first one was missing an ear, which had rotted off. The second one had blood on her mouth, from biting someone. The last one was missing skin around his jaw, which the Spawn was eating. All were Lost, I promise.” he said, hoping to end the line of questioning.

They rode silently until Gavin finally nodded. “Okay Michael, I trust you. I’m sorry I thought you were a liar. It was… Just really scary.” he said finally.

Laughing, Michael flicked him playfully on the forehead. “You better trust me! I am rescuing your ass, after all! You and me, we’re buddies, right?”he said brightly.

Finally managing to smile for the first time that evening, Gavin nodded. “Yeah!” he exclaimed happily, tucking back into Michael’s chest and shutting his exhausted eyes.

-

The overall drive had taken a few hours, but Michael finally found him and Gavin pulling up to the gigantic iron gates of the Austin Reclamation Camp. Michael’s unit had taken over a fenced high school building, clearing out the Lost and reinforcing the gates and fencing to withstand attacks from Lost. It was a shit hole, but a well-secured shit hole that was oddly cozy.

Standing outside the gates, with a goofy grin was a pale man of Puerta Rican descent. A little shorter than Michael, with dark black hair and a pair of black glasses, the man walked forward and pointed a pistol at his head. “Name.” he ordered playfully.

Michael rolled his eyes. “Michael Jones, Scouting Legion under Geoff Ramsey, CDC Freedom Corps. Oh, and might I say you suck at welcome homes Ray?” he scoffed, hopping off the bike and revealing the sleeping child on his chest.

“Holy shit, who’s that? Please tell me you did NOT find a kid out there.” Ray said in a shocked tone, pointing at Gavin. Whatever humor he’d had previously was not melted from his face.

Nodding, Michael sighed as he worked to unbuckle Gavin from his harness, while Ray held him from falling. “Yeah, him and his dad. His dad was a Lost, and I had to put him down. Sadly, he… Saw the aftermath of that, because I screwed up. The kid is fine though, knows his name and everything, I watched him since then, he’s clean. Well, of spawn anyway, the kid’s physically and mentally a fucking mess.” he whispered, cradling Gavin in his arms.

Ray shook his head. “Jesus… Go get him to Caiti, I’ll open the gate up.” he said, pulling out a walkie-talkie and putting it to his mouth. “Ray Narvaez, Austin Branch Security Chief. Open the gates immediately, we have a survivor that needs medical attention, ASAP.” he said hastily.

After a few moments, the communicator came back to life, with a static-ridden background noise. “You’re shitting me?! Opening the gates, I’ll wake Caiti up and get the med bay opened!” a husky voice echoed.

As promised, the large iron gates slowly began opening, and Michael didn’t waste any time, jogging through the gates and rushing into the long since abandoned school.

-

Gavin’s eyes began flickering open slowly, and the harsh florescent lights made him shut them just as quickly.

“Sweetie, are you awake? I’m so sorry, I’ll turn down the lights just a bit.” a kind woman’s voice asked. Sensing as the brightness was lowered, Gavin opened his eyes and was face to face with a pretty woman. She was short, with thin red glasses, and long golden-brown hair. “Better? Sorry about that, my name is Caiti, and I’m a doctor here at the Austin Lost Zone. I hope you don’t mind, but I washed and cleaned you up a bit while you slept.” she said sweetly, smiling gently at him.

Looking around, he soon realized he was laying in a hospital bed, and wearing a fresh set of clothes. He was clean, and with a shorter haircut than he’d had earlier. As nice as it felt, a painful throb began knotting in his heart. “W..Where’s the army man?! Where’s Michael!?” he shouted nervously, swinging around to look for him.

Caiti grasped his hand, soothing him with gentle shushes. “It’s okay sweetie, just calm down. Michael had to go report to our boss about what happened in the field. He’ll be back soon, I promise.” she said, rubbing his head in small circles.

Still shaking nervously, Gavin was breathing in and out quickly.

Sensing his uncertainty, she walked away for a moment, grabbing a small leather coat from a nearby chair. Returning to Gavin, she cloaked it around his body, where it engulfed his tiny frame. “Here, this is Michael’s coat. He left it when he had to go see Captain Burns.” she said.

Curling into the coat for warmth, he turned back to Caiti. “He was here?” he asked cautiously.

With a gentle smile, Caiti nodded. “He hasn’t left your side until he was dragged away about half an hour ago. Once you gain a little more weight and your blood tests come back, you can move in with him if you want. Or you could stay with the other survivors. Or I suppose we could send you to Atlanta to another shelter.” she pondered, moving to Gavin’s monitors and fiddling with a few buttons.

“I want to stay with him! He saved me, and said I could!” Gavin shouted insistently.

Caiti gave him a thumbs up. “Of course sweetie, whatever you want.” she said to affirm his worries, and began to walk away from Gavin and towards a large refrigerator. “Now… Who’s hungry?” she asked perkily, pulling out a bottle of water and a small wedge of cheese. In addition to that, she grabbed a small amount of bread from the nearby shelf, and returned to Gavin.

Dearly drooling at the sight, Gavin reached for the food immediately, to which Caiti shook her head. “Calm down now, we need to take this slow or you’ll get sicker. I’ll feed you little bits at a time, okay?” she said sternly, taking a seat next to him. She cut off a piece of bread, and put a small slice of the cheese on top of it. Handing the makeshift sandwich to Gavin, the boy inhaled it immediately, nearly choking on the food and coughing. She then handed the bottle of water to Gavin, who began downing it as if it were life itself.

Caiti began preparing another tiny sandwich, when a knock at the door caught her attention. Walking inside without an invitation, a woman in a Scouting Legion uniform walked in. “Caiti, is my husband here?! I heard he got back tonight, I’ve been worried sick!” she said exasperatedly, and out of breath.

Taking a break from his water, Gavin stared at the woman. She had bright red hair tied off in a ponytail that went down to her shoulders. Of average height and build, she reminded Gavin a lot of the princesses that his Daddy told him about in storybooks.

“Lindsay, relax, Micheal’s fine, I checked him out myself. He’s with Captain Burns giving his report on his scouting mission, he’ll be back in an hour, tops” she replied, handing Gavin another sandwich. He engorged it as quickly as the last one.

The woman turned to see Gavin eating, and covered her mouth in shock at his shape. “Oh god, is this… The kid he found?” she gasped.

Swallowing the meal, Gavin smiled. “Hi! I’m Gavin!” he said pleasantly enough, waving to her.

After she composed herself, Lindsay touched his leg, and could almost wrap her entire hand around it. Putting on a false smile, Lindsay waved back. “Hi there Gavin, I’m Lindsay Jones, and Michael is my husband.” she explained, taking a seat beside Caiti and helping to feed Gavin as the night went on.

-

Ray stomped off to the security section, where he’d been called into the office from their technology adviser, Jack Pattillo. Sat in an old technology lab in front of a wall of monitors, a broad shouldered man with a fiery red beard and hair was swearing quietly under his breath.

“Jack, what’s got a broom up your ass to call me out here? Motherfucker, I’m trying to get on the latest gossip about Michael’s new kid and whatever else happened to him.” he exclaimed in an annoyed fashion.

Throwing his head up, Jack pointed at a monitor on the top left of the screen. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe the horde of seven fucking hundred Lost heading our WAY?!” he screamed.

Ray’s jaw dropped, and he stopped breathing momentarily. “What. The. Fuck.” he said painfully, reaching for his walkie-talkie. “Uh, Captain Ramsey, we’ve got a big fucking problem. Mobilize the defense force.” he ordered, trying to maintain a serious tone to mask the horror.


	4. Heartless

_As I’ve discussed in the past, the Lost changed people.  The degree of psychiatric change was so significant, that the United States congress established the_ _“Lost Concordant_ _”.  In essence, any non-violent crimes, crimes of self-defense, or crimes committed while under psychiatric distress were dismissed when society was re-formed.  (Though the act of wanton murder, looting from live victims, rape, imprisonment, cannibalism, or crimes against humanity were met with SWIFT justice and imprisoned immediately.  The death penalty was re-enacted in all 50 states for a period of one year.)_

_While many argued the_ _“morality_ _” of such a law, it was a rarely utilized form of legal defense. Many who were involved in the Lost Crisis never pressed charges, and any who did were usually the subject of public scrutiny._

_Though the biggest case that used the “Lost Concordant”, which was known world wild, was the case of Burnie Burns.  His actions during the Lost Crisis were many times morally questionable, and broke 1,304 Military codes of conduct, and 4,323 State, Federal and International laws.  He was brought up on trial by the United States Military, the CDC Freedom Corps, the United States Department of Defense, the Atlanta State Government, the Texan State Government, the Dominican Republic, Burnie Tasmania, and by the Free Institute of Genetic Technology._

_After the jury convened for five minutes, he was cleared of all charges, and would be elected as a Texan State Senator, and later the President of the United States._

_Go figure, right?_

_-Loveless, Chapter III_

> _“When the crisis was over, and peace began to reign once more, I apologized to Gavin.  I was in such a dark place at that time, that I couldn’t see the happiness of others.  All I cared about was killing the Lost.  , and murdering each and every one of them in the most excruciatingly painful ways possible.  But after the time I spent with Gavin, and that little crazy family known as the Austin CDC Branch?  I think only then was I able to move on.  Thanks, kid, you were like a son to me.  Sorry I was such a shitty dad._ _” - Geoff Ramsey_ _– CDC Freedom Corps_ _– Commander of Military Combat_

Fittingly enough, the three commanders of Michael’s unit had taken up refuge in what had once been a principal’s office.  Sitting at the center of the desk was Commander Burns, the overall leader that ran the entire Austin operation.  He was a man in his later thirties, with shortcut brown hair, a slim, muscular figure, and never wore anything but the casual army attire.  To his right was Commander Heyman, the man in charge of logistics, supplies, and the overall operation of the base.  HE was in his early forties, with slightly greying hair, a bean-pole figure, and was in a surprisingly ill-fitting T-shirt and pajama bottoms.  To the left of Commander Burns was his immediate superior, Commander Ramsey.  The man was intimidatingly tough and muscular, with a wide variety of tattoos that were presently hidden under his jacket, and a scruffy brown beard to match his messy hair.  He was in his later thirties, much like Burns, but was the most presentable of the three.  Ramsey was in full combat-ready status, even wearing his Trinity Gear. 

Gulping, Michael felt a tad intimidated to be standing before all three at the same time, having only met Commander Ramsey in person before.

“So, we hear that you found a survivor.  Kudos to you, Private!  Now, care to explain to us what happened?” Burnie asked brightly, with a cheerful smile.

Michael nodded in reply.  “Yes, sir.  I was scavenging the Walgreens like my original mission had entailed, when I came across a Stage One lost who wandered inside.” he began, stopping as Commander Ramsey let out a deep sigh.

“You left the front door open, just how stupid are you, kid?” Geoff asked incredulously, being shushed immediately by Burns. 

“Continue, please.” Burnie said, elbowing Geoff in the gut.

“Yes, sir.  Well, after I administered the verbal test, I concluded that he was indeed a Lost.  Per regulations…  I…  Put him out of his misery.” Michael admitted reluctantly.

“So you killed him?” Geoff asked seriously.  

Michael nodded.  “Yes, sir.” he replied.

“Then fucking say so, and don’t pussy-foot around with us!  Killing the Lost is an ACHIEVEMENT in this corps, Private.  Don’t show them any fucking mercy, got it?!” Geoff shouted, being shushed once more by Burnie who shook his head disapprovingly.

“Please continue.  I apologize for Commander Ramsey, he gets a little testy at times, and as I’m sure you’re already aware.” Burnie chuckled out. 

Managing a halfhearted grin, Michael nodded.  “Yes, sir.  Anyway, once I confirmed the kill and insured that the spawn was exterminated, I heard a small child’s voice.  Fearing he might be a lost, I armed myself and administered the test.  Gavin, the boy I rescued, passed the test.  Unfortunately, the man I had killed-”

“The LOST you had killed.” Geoff corrected immediately.

“…the LOST I had killed had been his father.  After seeing the state of the man, he began crying and wailing, which attracted the attention of…  Sirens.  They chased us for a good half hour, and even found us on top of a fucking building.  They REALLY wanted Gavin.” Michael admitted.

Geoff slammed the table as hard as he could, and stopped Michael’s report.  “SIRENS?  How many?!” he screamed worriedly.

Flinching at his superior’s anger, Michael turned away.  “At least a dozen, maybe more, and there were a ton of stage 3 and onward too.” he explained quietly.

Upon hearing the words, all three of the commanders exchanged concerned glances. 

“Son…  Are you…  Sure about that?  You do know how to spot a Siren correctly, right?” Burnie asked hesitantly, still attempting to maintain his composure, despite Geoff’s silent tantrum he was throwing behind him. 

Michael nodded again.  “Yes, sir.  Sirens have the black ribcages, where the Spawn encases them inside.  All of them had it.” he explained.

Joel turned immediately to Burnie.  “That can’t be right, can it?” he asked incredulously. 

Laughing to himself, Geoff shook his head.  “Of course it can’t be right!  It’s im-fucking-possible!” he shouted, kicking the metallic file cabinet behind them with an audible thud.

He must have shown a genuinely bewildered expression, because Burnie sighed as he turned back to Michael.  “You see, son, Sirens shouldn’t be all the way out here.  They’re the commanders of the Spawn armies, and answer directly to the Mother Spawn.  For them to be all the way out here, where they’ve already overtaken this region?  It makes no sense!” he replied sadly.

A loud banging of the door gathered the attention of all four men.

“Michael!  Michael!  MICHAEL!” Gavin shouted from behind the door.

Geoff quickly ran to the door and opened it, revealing Gavin who was wrapped in Michael oversized jacket.  He gave the child a dark stare, as if he could kill him.  “Do you know what you’re interrupting kid?!  Go the fuck away, and-”

Before Geoff could finish his scolding, Gavin dashed past him and leaped onto Michael’s lap.  “Michael!  They’re coming again!  They’re coming, we’ve got to get out of here!” he shouted, beginning to sob into the man’s uniform.

Michael patted him on the back, trying to soothe the child.  “Gavin, calm down, you’re safe here.  How’d you get here and find me?” he asked curiously.

“Who’s coming?” Burnie asked.

Looking up from Michael’s arms, Gavin stared into Burnie’s soft eyes.  “The monsters!  The black monsters are coming, and they want to eat us!” he screamed desperately.

Geoff scoffed.  “Sounds like the boy had a nightmare.  Jones, get him out of here, we’re not-”

Pushing Geoff out of the way and interrupting him once again, Ray ran inside the room.  “Sir, turn on your monitor, there’s something really important that I think you’ll want to see.” he said rapidly, breathing in and out deeply from fatigue.

Nodding, Burnie flipped on his console switch, and his monitor lit up.  Upon it was surveillance footage, labeled CAM 14, signifying the distance in miles between them and the camera.  On the screen, however, were not the usual empty streets, but rather a horde of Lost, walking towards the camera.  Dozens of sirens, and hundreds of Lost, shambling in various states of decay and mind control.

“Jesus fucking Christ….” Joel murmured, gasping to himself.

“How?  The front line is all the way in Arkansas and Missouri right now!  What the fuck is a horde doing here?!” Geoff replied, dropping his jaw at the sight.

There was a silence between the various commanders, until Ray cleared his throat.  “We need to abandon the base, and-”

“HOLD THE FUCK UP.” Geoff screamed, breathing in and out angrily.

Everyone turned to him, and an audible gasp left Gavin’s throat in fear.

Geoff laughed to himself.  “Well, let’s think about this for a minute, people.  We’ve NEVER seen this many walking around, have we?  ESPECIALLY with Sirens, and in such an organized fashion!” he asked rhetorically, staring at Gavin darkly.

Everyone exchanged a nervous glance with each other. 

“Until…  Michael found this boy.  He said it himself!  The Sirens were after him and the boy!  The boy can feel them coming!” Geoff shouted incredulously, pointing at Gavin.  “Clearly, they’re after the boy, and I say we give him to them.  Drop him outside the city limits, and let them feast on his body, and they’ll leave us be.  Everything was FINE until he got here!” Geoff replied, moving towards Michael and Gavin.

“NO!  NO, PLEASE NO!  I DON’T WANT TO DIE!  MICHAEL, HELP ME!” Gavin screamed, trying desperately to cling onto Michael as tightly as he could.

Burnie shot up from the desk and grabbed Geoff by the scruff of the neck.  Tossing him backwards, Geoff was pushed into the wall with an audible thud.  “Geoff Ramsey, so help me god if I EVER hear you talk like that again about a child, I’ll ship your ass back to Atlanta and discharge you myself, do you UNDERSTAND ME!?” he screamed, shaking him violently.  “DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!” Burnie shouted again, staring at him directly in the eyes.

Instead of flinching, or wavering, Geoff just stared back at him, with a lifeless gaze about him.  “The life of few far outweighs the lives of many, or did you conveniently forget that, Commander?” he replied back slowly, with a sarcastic emphasis on Burnie’s title. 

Taken aback, Burnie released Geoff, and turned away, rubbing though his hair.  “Private Jones.” he shouted out.

Hesitantly, Michael stood up, still clinging to Gavin defensively.  “Yes, sir?” he replied.

Sighing heavily, Burnie shook his head.  “Strap Gavin in, and escort him to point C-3.  Take Narvaez, Luna, and Shawcross to act as your support.  We’re NOT feeding him to the zombies, but this theory is worth checking out.  If we can lead them away from our base, and into a trap, we have a chance to deal a lot of damage to their population here in Austin.” he explained, moving towards Michael and Gavin.  Kneeling down to Gavin’s level, Burnie patted his head gently.  “Can you be a REALLY brave boy for me, and go for a ride with Michael?  Pretty please?” he asked gently, with a gentle smile.

Gavin hid back into Michael’s arms, shaking his head.  “NO!  I don’t want to!  That mean man will kill me!” he shouted, pointing towards Commander Ramsey.

Rubbing Gavin’s back, Michael shook his head.  “I won’t let him, or anyone else hurt you, Gavin.  We’re just going to fly away to a safe location, where the monsters can’t get you, I promise.  I will NEVER lie to you Gavin, as long as I live.” he said, picking the boy into his arms and moving outside the door and through the hallways.  Following closely behind, Ray began shouting orders into his communication device, while they weaved in and out of many antsy soldiers in various states of dress and combat readiness.

The child looked up into Michael’s eyes, and held out his pinky finger.  “Pinky swear?  You REALLY swear that I’ll be okay, and you’ll protect me?  You won’t lie, ever?!” Gavin exclaimed, with a desperate tone.

Michael immediately grabbed Gavin’s pinky with his own, and shook it up and down.  “I pinky promise.” he said, smiling gently.

“Okay.” Gavin replied sheepishly, with an uncertainty still lingering in his words.

Ray, Michael and Gavin rushed through the floors of the school, finally reaching a locker room.  Stealing back his jacket, Michael suited up into his Trinity Gear that was hanging from his own personally labeled station.

Two other men, in their early twenties, were fitting into their skin-tight combat uniforms.  Unlike Michael, their army uniforms were adorned with two interconnecting swords, both a pale shade of red.  Their trinity gear was much more compact and streamlined, with dozens of tiny hunting knives strapped to their arms, ankles, and belts. 

The taller and slimmer of the two, a shaggy brunette with a fuzzy face, Michael recognized as Miles Luna, one of the Scarlet Sword Brigade, on loan from Commander Oum back in Atlanta.  Beside him, a shorter male with a medium-cut blond hairstyle, with a little more muscle on him, was Kerry Shawcross, also of the Scarlet Swords. 

“Mission specs?” Miles muttered in a thick northern accent, strapping a black visor firmly onto his face.  It lit up momentarily, as various bits of environmental and combat data whirred past him on the screen.

While Michael strapped Gavin into his rescue harness, Ray stepped forward to answer.  “We’re to escort Private Jones and Civilian Gavin to point C-3.  We expect little to no resistance while on-route, but average combat-readiness should be the standard.  Based on what the enemy does, will determine our actions.

Kerry loaded a large, collapsible sniper rifle onto his back, which was connected to a long string of iron bolts, similar to Michael’s crossbow ammunition, but much longer and thinner.  He turned to Ray as he strapped on a visor similar to Miles’.  “What are the possible outcomes?” he asked curiously.

Sighing, Ray shook his head.  “Outcome one is that the Lost ignore us, and continue their raid on our home base.  If that is the case, then you two are to return to base and engage the enemy, while Jones and I move towards the rescue points for extraction assistance.” he explained quickly.

“The other?” Miles asked, strapping a crossbow of moderately larger proportions to Michael’s to both of his wrists.

Ray managed a tiny smirk.  “If, what we believe is true, and that the horde Lost are after this boy, then they may follow after us.  If that is the case, we are to defend Point C-3 until preparations are made, and the Combat Corps can come to our aid.  At that time, we will engage the enemy and attempt to wipe them out.” he replied.

Unimpressed, Miles turned to stare at the frightened child cowering in Michael’s arms.  “Excuse me?  You’re sending two of the finest aerial combat specialists in the US to guard a CHILD?  More importantly, why the fuck would they be after ONE child?!  The spawn’s primary directive is to infest as many people as possible!” he shouted in irritation.

“The fuck if I know!  Why are Sirens and a goddamn horde all the way out here in the first place!?” Ray replied angrily, rolling his eyes and moving towards Michael, who had finished strapping into his gear.  “Ready?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows cockily.

He huffed in reply, patting Gavin on the head.  “As we’ll ever be.” Michael replied meekly.


	5. Speechless

> _The United States, as odd as it may sound, kept approximately five hundred Lost at the end of the war.  They were used for various purposes, but mostly for research and development.  There is widespread talk of using the spawn’s genetic code as a way to spark a new biological weapon to be used against the nations that abandoned us._
> 
> _A lie about the weapon, of course, but an excellent deterrent for any nation that might think we are weak enough to invade and take advantage._
> 
> _Sad, isn’t it?  The first thing we thought about after the war, was preparing for another eventual war.  Though it was a good thing we did, because our dear North Korean friends DID try to invade us._
> 
> _Their front lines they sent to DC were met with a single enemy battalion, and their troops ran for the hills immediately._
> 
> _One human soldier, standing in front of and commanding two hundred Siren-class Lost, who were impervious to bullets, radiation, and any attempts to kill them.  The American-Korean War lasted all of one day, and the United States was invited back into the United Nations the very next day._
> 
> _Amazing, isn’t it?  What had been the cause of our abandonment quickly became our greatest international bargaining chip since the nuclear warhead._
> 
> _Though President Burns quickly outlawed any and all Lost research, and ordered the five hundred Lost be destroyed.  An action that would win him 8 years of presidency, and winner of a Nobel Peace Prize._
> 
> _-Loveless, Chapter V_

_________

> _The day that we learned that Gavin was class A Lost bait?  Well, it was the day my job got a hell of a lot more difficult.  Fuck you, Gavin.  But seriously, love you, man.  - Ray Narvaez, Jr._

Michael, Gavin, Ray, Miles and Kerry shot off into the night’s pitch-black sky, flinging themselves back and forth across their pre-built maneuver pillars littering the cityscape.  They’d been traveling in the opposite direction of the horde, trying to get a discernible distance away.  Finally, the five of them were about to reach the destination, when Miles took point, landing on a large platform, not unlike a tree fort, and unfurling his wrist crossbows, scanning the area with his scanner.

“This is stupid; we should be back at base, helping to move everyone to safety, not moving some dirty brat halfway across the damn city!” Miles shouted, as the rest of them landed.  

Kerry pulled out his sniper, and began looking around the area, sighing audibly.  “None anywhere close.  Narvaez, call into base, see if we can get a surveillance scan.” he said, motioning to Ray’s direction.

“Yes, sir.” Ray replied, switching off his maneuver gear and pulling out a small radio transceiver.  “Narvaez to base, horde status?” he asked seriously.

Static shot over the radio momentarily, until Jack’s heavy voice slowly became more and more audible. 

“STAY in position, we’re analyzing it right now.” Jack replied, switching off the radio immediately.

Michael unstrapped Gavin, and allowed the boy to vomit over the side of the building, in an unspoken protest of their model of transportation.

“Jesus Christ, you two are shitty scouts.  Seriously, where’d you get your training from, some secondhand brigade out in DC?” Miles muttered, clearly irritated by the two slowing them down during the travel.

Kerry rolled his eyes.  “Miles, lay off them, not everyone got training from Oum’s outfit, they did FINE.” he retorted, still scanning the area with his rifle. 

Saying nothing, Michael focused all his attention onto Gavin, who was clearly upset about being taken outside of the base. 

“Doing okay buddy?” Michael asked, patting the boy on the back. 

Gavin shook his head, and tried to curl back into Michael’s warm army jacket.  “No.  I don’t like flying, it’s stupid, and Miles is a meanie!” he replied, shooting a dark look towards the man in question.

Miles lowered his visor, and began walking towards Gavin.  “Do you KNOW who you’re talking to, young man?  I am Miles Luna, Rank V in the Scarlet Sword Brigade, and Commander Oum’s personal protégé!  I have more confirmed Lost kills than you could IMAGINE.  Show some goddamn respect, got it?!” he shouted, giving a scathing look towards Gavin.

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” Gavin shrieked loudly, pushing Miles away from his face.

“SHH!” Ray and Kerry said, silencing swearing under their breath from the child’s noise.

Everyone sat in an aggravated silence, until static from Ray’s radio began to turn into a frantic, yet oddly joyful voice.

-

“In…Incredible..” Jack muttered, pointing towards Burnie’s terminal. 

Joel shook his head incredulously.  “More like impossible, they’re…  They’re…” he stammered.

Cracking his knuckles, Geoff had a devious grin slowly forming on his face.  “They’re following the boy, just like I said.” he said darkly. 

On-screen, the commanders and Jack watched as the horde walked past the Austin Base gates, completely ignoring the many standing (and very confused) guards with guns pointed at them.

With a low hum, Burnie sighed through his nostrils.  “Are the forces ready?” he asked, turning back to Geoff.

“Yep, me and my boys are heading to the rendezvous point, tell Jones and the Scarlet Brats to keep them in the area.  We’re gonna drop those Lost-scum down a hole and make sure they don’t come back.” Geoff replied, waving as he exited the room in a quick hustle. 

Jack began muttering orders over the radio, as Joel and Burnie exchanged less than eager glance. 

“Burnie, what does this mean?” Joel asked, anxiously fiddling with his hands. 

Not acknowledging the question, Burnie pressed a small button on the intercom.  “Get me Dr. Ward, please.” he asked, leaning back into his chair with a deep sigh. 

-

“Mother of God…”Miles murmured, watching as hundreds of Lost began edging their way closely towards their point, just as Jack had said to expect.  Dozens of Sirens were among them, shrieking and wailing loudly in their incomprehensible language.  They would arrive within moments, and begin to climb up the long wooden pillar, attempting to feed on them at the top of  

Kerry laid down on his stomach, cocked his rifle and began firing into the night.  Not bothering with the impenetrable cages of the Sirens, he instead aimed for the Stage IV and lower lost, blowing their brains away. 

Smiling, Miles hopped off the ledge, and fired his tethers just above the Lost’s range of height.  With his lower range, Miles began firing bolts into the skulls of the weaker Lost, and watched as they fell over, one by one, with the black sludge of a dead spawn leaking out of their ears.

A loud shriek distracted him, causing him to turn around.  A Siren was leaping towards him, using one of the Lost as a support for her jump. 

Effortlessly, Miles spun himself around on his wires, back-kicking the Siren on the skull and leaving a small crack in her rib cage.  Following up on the assault, Miles aimed both of his wrist-bows on the crack and firing them.  The bolts shot, impaling through the weakened area, and striking the spawn in her rib-cage.  The sludge exploded, and the ebony bones fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Miles had a cocky smile on his face.  “GOTCHA, YOU STUPID BIT-”

As he screamed, however, a stray Siren to his backside leapt up, grabbing one of his tether wires, and breaking it in half with its sharpened finger-bones.  The cable cut, and Miles plummeted to one side of his tethering, dangling over the Lost like a fresh meal.  Dozens of them began lining up, trying to climb to his height and infect him with their parasite.

Michael shielded Gavin’s eyes, as the once fearless soldier screamed horrifyingly, all of his bravado gone in an instant.

“MILES!” Kerry screeched, tossing down his weapon to the side and firing off his maneuver gear, following after him on a rescue attempt.  Shooting a huge burst of steam from the back of his gear, Kerry was moving at Mach speed, flinging his arms back to lower the wind resistance and get him to his destination faster.  As a consequence, however, he lost control of his turning capabilities, and just barely struck the side of a rooftop.  Unfortunately, with the high speed of his maneuverability, he flung wildly into the side of a building, and knocked himself out from the impact, falling to the ground with a soft thud.  Lost began limping slowly towards him, licking their lips at the unconscious prey.

“KERRY!” Miles screamed, kicking as the skulls of several lost, trying to buy himself more time, impaling their skulls with his many combat knives he’d packed. 

A cold sweat overcame Michael, and Gavin started sobbing hysterically in his arms as he peeked out of the man’s hands, seeing both of them about to be engulfed whole.  “S…Stop…  STOOOOOOP!  STOP IT!  LEAVE THEM ALONE!” the child screamed loudly.

The sound of the child’s voice stopped all of the Lost at once, and they turned back towards him and his shrieking.  Leaving both Kerry and Miles alone, they returned their slow advance towards them on the pillar. 

Michael caught onto that, and his mind began firing at a thousand miles a minute. 

 _“They…  They really do want Gavin!  If they hear him, they fucking lose it and come straight for him!  Like at the drug store!  Like here, when they first showed up!_ _”_ Michael thought, breathing difficultly.

After a moment or two of hesitation and thought, he shook his indecision off.  “Get in, kiddo.” Michael said, picking Gavin up and strapping him into his body as he’d done so many times before.  He turned to Ray with a desperate glance.  “We’re going to lead them away, go save Luna and Shawcross when they’re out of the way, got it?” he ordered, as he moved to the edge of the platform and taking a deep breath.  Leaning over the side, he gulped.  “Gavin, I need you to scream as LOUD as you can, okay?  I need you to do that, so we can save their lives, okay!?” he said desperately.

“You said I wasn’t supposed to make noise!” Gavin retorted, clearly confused by the contradicting orders.

Not bothering to explain, Michael pinched Gavin’s cheek as hard as he could.

“OWWWWWW!  STOP IT, THAT HURTS!” Gavin shouted, earning the two of them another desperate shriek of the Sirens.

Michael jumped off the building, and flung his tethers in the opposite direction of Miles and Kerry.  The Sirens and Lost continued their advance towards, and Ray flung himself towards the two.  Helping Miles down, the two of them then moved and picked up the still unconscious Kerry.  Afterwards, Ray shot them back towards the roof, and out of danger. 

With Luna and Shawcross out of harm’s way, Michael finally landed back on the high platform they’d been circling around to distract the lost with, and watched as their enemy began trying to climb the tower and reach them.

“JONES, MOVE THEM TO THE PIT!” Commander Ramsey shouted, flying swiftly towards him with three other masked soldiers.  “SAVE THOSE DUMBASSES!” Geoff shouted, motioning towards the pitiful crew hanging barely on a roof. 

Following his orders, Michael joined Geoff in mid-air, where they traveled only a short way, to a small area that had once been a junkyard.  Long since cleared out, the CDC Corps had retrofitted it into an “incinerator” or sorts, never having an occasion to use it quite yet. 

“Dangle above them to draw them in, I’ll pull the switch!  Get ready to run when you can!” Geoff ordered. 

Doing as he was told, Michael hooked his two tethers onto a low hanging hook, and dangled back and forth above a large metallic grating.  The Lost, slowly, but surely made their way, attempting desperately to climb up on each other to reach their food source.

“MICHAEL!  I DON’T LIKE THIS, GET AWAY FROM HERE!  I DON’T WANT TO BE HERE!  IT’S SCARY!” Gavin cried, making the Lost grumble and moan in a newly found desire to each the boy’s flesh.

Gavin screamed, crying into his jacket, and Michael tried to hold him as close as he could, raising the tethers slowly to get them further away from the slowly growing numbers.

Down on the ground, Geoff pressed a large button on the side of the building’s control panel, and the metallic floor beneath Michael and Gavin began to slowly creek open, splitting in half.  The horde, one by one, fell into the huge pit, screaming and wailing in objection, having come so close to their meal ticket. 

Their job done and with a horrible fear looming in his mind, Michael swung him and Gavin back and forth, until he released his tethers, and leapt towards the roof of the metal building Geoff had been stationed inside. 

“THIRTY SECONDS, MOVE YOUR ASS JONES!” Geoff shouted, shooting his tethers out and dashing away from the location.  Michael followed closely behind, trying to keep pace as best he could with the far more experienced soldier.

Half a minute later, the struggling Lost began to try and climb out of the hole, but were met with hundreds of thousands of tiny red lights beginning to light up the underground passage.  Loud beeps signaled the end of the countdown, and each light was met with a gigantic explosion, creating a huge pillar of fire that shot up from the hole and lit up the entire Austin area like a gigantic bonfire.

Watching from a nearby roof, Geoff patted Michael firmly on the buttocks.  “FUCK YES, NOW THIS IS PERFECT!  I’m glad we didn’t feed him now!” he chuckled out loudly.

Nervously, Michael turned to his superior.  “W..What do you mean by that?” he asked, as Gavin clung tightly to his chest and sobbed loudly into his chest out of fear.

Geoff looked over to Michael and the child, and had a smug grin on his face.  “It MEANS, we’ve got ourselves one HELL of a live bait.  We’re going to kill SO many fucking lost with him, it’s not even funny.  THEY BASTARDS ARE GOING TO FRY!” he laughed, falling to his knees and allowing happy tears to run down his face, as hysterical laughter was met with two very nervous glances from the across from him.


	6. Fearless

> _One of the few luxuries that mankind forgot in the Lost disaster was the innocence of childhood.  There was no Santa Claus, no Tooth Fairy, and birthday parties were only for the children of government officials.  Or the occasional military branch, I suppose…_
> 
> _I digress._
> 
> _In the long run, children were no longer children.  It was typical of them to reach of the age of twelve and be considered “adults”.  This was the age that many began wielding weapons and took on watch duties.  Some married by fifteen, and all who didn’t choose medical or service careers were drafted into the various military branches at sixteen.  I look at the children today and think what spoiled brats they are, not knowing the horrendous trials that we went through in order to get to this day._
> 
> _Yet, another part of me is merely jealous of them.  A deep wish that I could have been so blessed and lucky.  Although I supposed I WAS blessed and lucky, if we’re speaking honestly._
> 
> _I digress again._
> 
> _There was no…  “Fun”.  There wasn’t time, and it certainly wasn’t safe.  Survival was the only thing we were ever concerned with, especially for the kids living on the “outside” of the front line.  Days spent scavenging for food and supplies, in order to keep alive another day.  Repairing broken tools and weapons, so we could stay safe.  Practicing first aid and proper shooting, so that nothing was ever a threat._
> 
> _Still, it didn’t stop us from dreaming._
> 
> _My father told me stories of my grandfather playing things called…  “Video Games”.  Machines that they would spend hours playing together, chasing after a mystical princess locked away in a tower, using mushrooms as weapons._
> 
> _I told him such things were ludicrous, and didn’t believe him in the slightest.  That it was made up, and he was just teasing me._
> 
> _My father was not to be outdone, that was for certain._
> 
> _One birthday, my father managed to find a television set and something they called a “Nez”.  I played the game the entire day, and nobody made me do any of my chores.  A few people even came in and watched me play when their shifts were up._
> 
> _There I was, playing as a little red man who jumped, trying to save a princess, using mushrooms to grow big and strong.  How I laughed and giggled every time I got a “superstar” and that bright music started to play, letting me know I was invincible._
> 
> _I’ll never forget that day._
> 
> _I think that was the day that I realized what “fun” was.  “Fun” is a state of mind, when worry and fear are gone.  A small window where no matter how TERRIBLE the situation may be, our hearts feel warm, and a smile crosses our face._
> 
> _Or maybe that’s peace?_
> 
> _Then again, I suppose peace WOULD be fun to anyone who was put in our situation._

**_-Loveless ; Chapter VI_ **

_

> _“I wish I could take everything I did back.  Even though what I did eventually led to the eradication of the lost, I’ll never be able to look that boy in the eyes again.  I was the proverbial boogieman, who gave him nightmares that will haunt him the rest of his life.  I wish I’d known then, what I know now.  That in the end?  He was no different than Hope had been.”_
> 
> _-Geoff Ramsey ; CDC Freedom Corps Commander_

_

The bright afternoon sun gleaming high overhead.  A particularly beautiful day, fluffy clouds were slowly hovering overhead, and the atmosphere was the perfect mixture of dry and windy.  It was a day that many might enjoy a beautiful picnic on the beach, or perhaps go out and play catch.  

It was, however, not a day that many would consider perfect for “zombie hunting”, one Gavin Free in particular.

Zooming by overhead, Michael, Kerry, Miles and Ray were flying by the rooftops of Austin, with hundreds of Lost quickly on their tail.  Having learned from their past mistakes, Miles and Kerry had done equations and learned how tall the local Sirens could jump, thus giving them an edge on how high they would need to be in order to be safe.

Strapped into Michael’s front support, Gavin was wailing as usual.  

“MICHAEL!  STOP!  STOP IT!  I DON’T WANT TO BE HERE!  IT’S SCARY!,” Gavin cried out, sobbing vehemently.  

Having long since learned to wear earplugs during their daily missions, MIchael only felt the vibrations from the child in his chest, instead of the heart-wrenching cries.

A week after Gavin had come to stay with them, Commander Ramsey had ordered that Gavin be used as live bait on a daily basis.  That Michael would be his caretaker, and fly him around the city, gathering as many Lost as he could.  In the same time frame, Geoff’s private platoon would prepare traps, which would eradicate all of the Lost that Michael and his scouting squad could gather.  

Which turned out, was quite a lot.

“Jones, it’s Pattillo.  Ramsey says to reel in the fish,” Jack said over the radio piece.  

“Affirmative,” Michael said, reluctantly pulling out his ear plugs and stuffing them in his front pocket.  Looking down, Gavin’s face was as red as a cherry, and his body still flailing with all its might.  “We’re wrapping it up Gavin, just hang in there!,” Michael exclaimed, putting his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

Flinching at the touch, Gavin slapped his hand away.

“JONES!  TURN!,” Miles shouted.

Looking up from his boy, Michael retracted his tethers and quickly did a spinning maneuver to safely hook into the next alleyway.  At the far end of it, was a dead end, with a pole standing tall in front of it.

“IT’S YOUR BABY NOW!,” Kerry said, saluting towards the two of them.  

Ray, Miles and Kerry broke off from the group, landing on the tallest rooftops in the area, while Michael continued down the long street.

“NO!  I DON’T WANT TO DO IT!  PLEASE!  PLEASE MICHAEL!?  NOT TODAY!,” Gavin cried out, finally resorting to pleas as he always did.

Shutting his eyes, Michael retracted his final cables and re-shot them towards the metallic pole’s hook at the very top.  As he had done earlier, Michael and Gavin were now swinging in the air, daintily.

It didn’t take long for the Lost horde to catch up with them, and eventually the loud moans and screams from the sirens were overwhelming them.  

Gavin’s tears fell from the top, raining down on the lost, which only served to frenzy them more, attempting fruitlessly to grasp into the air at something they could never hope to reach.  

Ignoring the child’s cries, Michael pressed into his ear.  “We’re all clear.  Light ‘em up,” he ordered.

Moments later, large barrels appeared from the rooftops overhead.   Wooden and flimsy, the Austin CDC Corps Soldiers effortlessly pushed them over the sides.  The hundreds of barrels quickly covered the many Lost, in a greasy, stinky oil-like substance.

Michael managed a small grin.  “You want to do it today kiddo?,” he asked.

Angrily, Gavin pulled into Michael’s belt, and pulled out his compactable crossbow.  At the same time, Michael quickly loaded it with a bolt, that had a rather odd red tip to it.  

“Line it up and do it like we practiced.  Waste an arrow, and Geoff will chew my ass-,” Michael began to explain, as Gavin shot the bolt, which recoiled and struck him firmly in the nose.

“OW!,” Gavin screamed, nearly dropping Michael’s weapon, had the trained soldier not had the reflexes of a god.  

Ignoring the near destruction of a priceless weapon, Michael swung him and Gavin over, until he connected his tethers to the rest of the rooftops, and joined his fellow soldiers.  

The bolt, which Gavin had fired rather luckily into a Lost’s skull, was blinking slowly, with an audible beep.  After several successions of notes, the bolt exploded into fire, which spread across the covered group, and generated loud hissing and wails from the dying undead, as they slowly burned to death.

“Nice shot, you got ‘em,” Michael tried to say proudly, looking down at the boy.

With his arms crossed, and still sniffling, Gavin was clearly upset.

Michael sighed.  “Gavin..  Listen, it’s not my choice.  If I had it my way, I’d let you stay back at the base, but…  It’s my boss’s orders,” he said defeatedly.

Staying silent, Gavin didn’t bother to look at, or respond to, Michael.

 

____

 

Hours after the successful hunt, the CDC soldiers had returned home.  After showering, making sure Gavin bathed himself, and filing his report, Michael jones was finally in his comfortable clothes for the day, and had returned to the classroom in the school he and Lindsay called home.  Loose fitting pajama bottoms, and some archaic pre-war shirt about Bazingas was his choice of comfort.  Gavin, by contrast, had settled for a plain, oversized, white shirt, that hung down around his knees, almost like a dress.

The Jones “room” wasn’t all that grand.  What had once been a kindergarten classroom, they had one of the few luxuries of carpeted floors, several cots, and enough children’s books to keep them “entertained” for the rest of their lives.

Snorting in her own easy chair they’d looted from a furniture store, Lindsay shook her head.  “My boys are such NERDS,” she said, giggling.

Smiling, Gavin ran immediately towards her, and jumped on her lap, hugging her tightly.  “Hi Lindsay!  I made it back safe again, just like I promised!,” he said proudly.

Lindsay patted Gavin on the head, and returned the hug ten-fold.  “You sure did!  Oh, you’re such a brave boy!  I couldn’t do that, that’s for sure!,” she said in a motherly tone.

Frowning, Gavin pulled away from her.  “But…  But Mr. Michael says you’re one tough bitch that don’t take shit from no-one?,” he said cutely, in a naive tone.

She looked up at Michael with a less than pleased demeanor.  “You use that kind of language around kids?!  Seriously?!,” she exclaimed.

Michael rolled his eyes, plopping down on a moldy couch they’d hunted down on a dumpster run.  “So what?!  My old man swore like a goddamn sailor, we live on a military base, and are in a shitty situation.  Let ‘em rip, that’s what I say,” he exclaimed, with a smug sense of satisfaction.

“FUCK YEAH!,” Gavin said, throwing both arms into the air.

Surrendering momentarily on the topic at hand, Lindsay looked down at Gavin.  “So…  Are you still mad at Michael for making you go with him during the days?,” she asked.

Gavin quickly remembered his earlier anger, and folded his arms again, in addition to a serious pout.  “YES.  I don’t like flying in the air, I don’t like the monsters chasing me, and I DON’T LIKE THAT DOO DOO BRAINED SHITFACE GEOFF!,” he said angrily.

“Ditto,” Michael whispered under his breath, quickly silenced by Lindsay’s cold stare.  

Looking back at the boy, Lindsay let him lay down in her lap, with his head resting on her shoulder.  “I understand.  It’s really scary, and…  I’m sorry we’re making you do this,” she explained, cringing as he stared at her with broken eyes.

“Why?,” Gavin asked.

Taken aback, Lindsay paused.  “Why…  Why what?,” she replied.

Looking down, Gavin tugged at his oversized shirt.  “Why…  Why do the monsters come after me?  Did…  Did they bite my daddy because of…  because of…” he began to stammer, as tears started to form.  

“Oh sweetheart, no!,” Lindsay said, pulling him closer to her, and wiping away his tears.  “Sweetie, the monsters just like you because…  because…” the explained, pausing as she turned to Michael for assistance.  

Nonchalantly, Michael shrugged.  “My dad always said the monsters only wanted to eat kids that didn’t go to bed on time, or do their chores like they were supposed to,” he offered.

Gavin LEAPT out of Lindsay’s lap and ran over to his cot, covering up in the thick blanket he’d been given.  “GOODNIGHTMGOINGTOBED,” he spat out in a hastened tone.  

Looking back towards her husband, Lindsay gave him “the look”.

Michael didn’t like “the look”.

_

 

Inside the principal’s office, Geoff was absentmindedly picking at his fingernails, rolling his eyes at his leader’s report.  It had been hours, and everything was always the same.  

“Oh, and GEOFF,” Burnie said angrily.

Jumping up, Geoff nearly fell out of his chair.  “Yeah, what?,” he shot back.

Burnie sighed.  “The last order of business is actually about Jones and the Free boy, so please pay attention,” he said, rather solemnly.

A smile came across Geoff’s face.  “Aren’t they GREAT?!  We have NEVER, in all of our years, been able to clear THIS MANY LOST before!  We’re breaking quota records for 2 to 3 plus years in a matter of WEEKS!  That little brat is like a fucking flame to a goddamn moth!,” he said excitedly.  A beaming grin had overcome him, and his entire personality changed in a split-second.

Burnie, on the other hand, was looking down and away from his comrade.  “I want you to give the kid a week off.  I’ve seen the recordings, that kid is scared to fucking death.  I don’t want to break him, got it?  Oh, and give Jones the week off too.  They could use some bonding time,” he explained.

Geoff’s face fell flat, and his eyebrows furrowed together.  “Are you fucking kidding me?  SERIOUSLY?  AS FAR AS WE’RE GOING, NOW OF ALL TIMES YOU WANT TO TAKE A GODDAMN BREAK!?,” he screamed, standing up and knocking his chair backwards.  Geoff slammed his hands on Burnie’s desk, and burned a hole through his eyes from the fire glowing in his eyes.

“My order is absolute,” Burnie replied coldly.

HE shoved everything off Burnie’s desk, and then proceeded to break the chair he’d been sitting on.  “MOTHERFUCKER!  WE COULD RETAKE AUSTIN AT THIS RATE!  IN MONTHS, NOT YEARS!  DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?!,” Geoff spat out, as a twitch began to overtake his forehead.

Burnie shook his head.  “Geoff, I understand what you’ve been through, but I-”

Over the table in less than a second, Geoff grabbed Burnie by the collar of his uniform and pulled him within an inch of his face.  “YOU DON’T KNOW SHIT!  MOTHERFUCKER, IF YOU EVER SAY ANYTHING AS DUMB AS THAT AGAIN, I’LL RAM A BULLET SO FAR UP YOUR ASS, YOU’LL TASTE GUNPOWDER FOR A WEEK!,” he screamed.  

“Geoff, I-” Burnie tried say, finding it suddenly hard to breathe.

Having none of it, Geoff threw Burnie to the floor and walked away.  “You don’t get to be sorry.  You’ve still got a son left, BACK IN THE GODDAMN SAFETY OF ATLANTA, IN A FUCKING FORTRESS.  ALIVE!,” he hollered, grabbing a picture of their unit from the wall, and throwing it into the ground, where it shattered into a million pieces.  Redness overtook the man’s face, as well as a welling of tears.  

Unperturbed, Burnie rose up, and gently dusted himself off.  While Geoff slowly cooled himself off, breathing in and out slowly, Burnie walked over to him, and pulled him into a hug.  “I’m..  I’m sorry Geoff.  You…  You of all people didn’t deserve to see what you saw,” he said, patting his friend on the back.  

Geoff nodded.  “It never goes away Burnie…  That…  That screaming!  It…  It never goes away!,” he choked out, leaning into the man’s shoulder.

 

__

 

Long after midnight, Lindsay and Michael had retreated to their own bed, and were slowly beginning to drift off to sleep.

Though Lindsay adjusted herself in Michael’s arms and looked up at him.  “Michael?  What are we going to do about Gavin?,” she asked, innocently enough.

Half-asleep, Michael yawned loudly.  “Whaddya mean?,” he asked.

Sighing, she shook her head.  “You know what I mean.  I’m talking about when our military service runs out, and we go back home to New York?  It’s only a few months away, and-”

“We’ll talk about it later,” he bemoaned.

Lindsay huffed.  “Michael, you keep dodging the question!  Even BEFORE Gavin got here, you never want to talk about the future!  It’s important now, it’s not just us!,” she retorted.

The sound of gentle snoring from beside her signaled the end of their conversation.  Making a mental note to kick him in the balls later, Lindsay turned around to the opposite side of the room, where Gavin was gently snoring, in a very similar manner to her own husband.  She watched Michael’s far too large shirt slowly drift up and down on the boy’s tiny chest.

“Sweet dreams.  Maybe in your head, you’ve got a better world than we’ve got,” Lindsay said, shutting her eyes, and slowly drifting off to sleep herself.


	7. Mindless

> _An old saying that mankind once knew is that necessity is the mother of invention.  In wars before the Lost Catastrophe, I’ve read that nations developed incredible machines to better save their own lives, such as the mobile tank.  I’ve heard that during the bubonic plague, many doctors came to learn more about disease transmission, and developed specialized masks to lower the risk of infection.  When faced with the cold of the night, early man developed fire, to escape the situation they had been placed in._
> 
> _To us, necessity really was the mother of invention._
> 
> _Realizing that fuel would never again be a reliable means of transport, the United States military developed the maneuver gear, so that soldiers could travel great distances, using only electricity (from solar sources) and compressed air that was specially created.  A few other small vehicles were produced using the same principles, such as the E-Bike and All-Terrain-Transport (ATT), though their expensive compared to the maneuver gear was astronomical._
> 
> _When faced with the necessity of lost research, medical labs in the World Health Organization (or what was left of it in the US), developed a way to test blood, and confirm a new, specialized blood tracer that was based on a chemical color-solution.  Human blood always remained red, while Lost blood would turn a putrid shade of black._
> 
> _Though most notably, the United States learned an important lesson on the importance of recycling.  The “disposable” generation had to realize that materials were precious.  Bullets, bolts, supplies, and critical items had to be preserved as long as possible.  This is because many of the objects could no longer be made without great cost and difficulty, and that it reduced the need to scavenge._
> 
> _I’ll never forget this one time, a little while after the Lost “cure” was found, and I was traveling with my father to disperse it across the nation.  I couldn’t have been older than thirteen at the time, but I was old enough that I was made responsible for a crossbow, for my own protection._
> 
> _One night, I SAT on my crossbow, and broke it in two._
> 
> _Despite that I was with my family, friends, and comrades, I could FEEL their disgust shooting into my body.  Such a careless error had made us one weapon shorter, and repairs would take up precious resources.  In a weird way, it was like I’d committed a crime, almost like shoplifting._
> 
> _Though none of them chewed me out, not even my VERY strict father._
> 
> _Because they all knew that I KNEW.  Even at thirteen, I knew that what I had done was horrible.   It must have been because I started crying at sunset, and didn’t stop till sundown._
> 
> _Oddly enough, just the other day, my little girl dropped a plate and broke it.  Old instincts kicked in, and I wanted to scold her for it.  I wanted to make her KNOW what I knew all those years._
> 
> _But then I remembered we weren’t in a war anymore._
> 
> _It never really leaves us._
> 
> _-Loveless ; Chapter VII_

___

 

> _“Commander…  Sorry, PRESIDENT Burns was a kind man the likes of which I knew few of.  Michael and I had served in about three other army groups, and none of them had the laid-back atmosphere that President Burns put us through.  I remember a few weeks after Gavin joined us, he gave Michael, Gavin and I time together, to “bond”.  At first, it was a LITTLE weird, because Gavin was just a cute little kid that slept in our room, because of his connection with Michael.  Though…  Looking back now, I can see what he was trying to do.  Burnie wanted us to be a family.  THAT’S the kind of man he was.” - Lindsay Jones ; CDC Freedom Corps ; Resource Specialist_
> 
> _  
>    
>  _

Awoken to a knock in the early hours of the morning, Michael answered the door to the Jones’ room.  Standing before him, in his usually clean-cut military style, with flawless hair, was Commander Burns.  And in his doorway, in boxers and a shirt, was Michael.  

“C..  Commander!,” Michael said, saluting immediately.

Burnie chuckled.  “Relax, at ease, whatever the fuck you want to hear.  This is personal, not business,” he explained.

“Oh.  Well, uh, come on in!,” Michael said, reluctantly signaling for Burnie to enter their abode.

He rose his hand up in reply.  “Sorry, can’t stay long.  I just wanted to inform you that yourself, Gavin and Lindsay have the rest of the week off-duty.  Think of this as a thanks to your family for cooperating with our recent plans, and as a much needed R&R,” Burnie explained, with a pleasant smile.

Taken aback, Michael’s jaw lowered, and he shook his head.  “You..  You serious?  Our leave time isn’t for another three weeks!,” he exclaimed.

Burnie laughed.  “Relax, and trust me.  You all need it!  Use this time to recharge your batteries for the upcoming missions, and to get to know the child a little better.  I’m sure that between all the mess since he arrived, there hasn’t REALLY been time to just sit down and ask him the important questions,” he said, waving as he walked off.  “Enjoy your time!  OH, but if you could, run Gavin down to Caiti’s office again.  For some reason, his blood didn’t analyze correctly, and she needs a new sample.  Not that we think Gavin’s a Lost, of course, but you know how it is registering new people.  A bureaucratic pain in my ass,” he asked, as he walked off and out of sight.

Grinning, Michael shut the door, and locked it behind him.  Quietly tiptoeing back to their shared bed, Michael slipped in behind Lindsay, hugging her tightly, and kissing her on the back of the head.  “Guess what?,” he asked.

Lindsay groaned.  “If lil’ Jones wants to come out, tell him to get back with his ex-hand, because I’ve got a shitload to do today,” she mumbled.

He chuckled.  “Commander Burns just gave you, me, and Gavin and next week off.  So, actually, Mrs. Jones, you don’t have a lot of shit to do today,” Michael replied smugly, snuggling closer wish his wife.  

Flipping around, Lindsay and MIchael’s noses touched.  “You’re shitting me?  REALLY?,” she asked, in disbelief.

Michael nodded.  “Yep.  So I was thinking you and I could-”

“D…  Daddy?,” Gavin asked, sitting up from his bed, rubbing his eyes lazily.  “Daddy?  Is it time to go yet Daddy?  I wanna sleep more..,” the boy asked, still clearly half-asleep.

Scrambling off the bed, Michael rushed to Gavin’s side, and put his arms around him, trying to lie him back down to sleep.  “Please…  Please don’t freak out today, please don’t freak out today,” Michael thought, recalling the many times the boy had woken up from such a pleasant dream with his father still, only to cry for hours on end when he realized the opposite was true.

Though, for the first time, Gavin didn’t fight back against MIchael, and actually did go back to sleep, laying his head in Michael’s lap.

“Thanks Daddy,” Gavin said, in a half-mumble, slowly beginning to snore.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Michael didn’t dare budge a muscle.

“Michael?  Do you…  Do you feel responsible for him now?,” Lindsay asked.

He shot his head up, blinking.  “Uh…,” Michael managed to reply.

Tying her hair back, Lindsay flipped her legs over the bed, and slowly stood up.  “Because, you know, if you wanted to…  Oh, I don’t know…  Keep him?  We should really talk about it,” she replied.

Michael scoffed.  “Linds, it’s not-” he began to say, silenced as the boy began stirring.

Looking back towards her husband seriously, Lindsay folded her arms.  “I’m serious.  Michael, raising a child is a lot more work than you think it is.  Especially on a military base, and especially since we travel so goddamn much.  Well, unless you’d FINALLY decide on if we are going to  re-enlist or not, when our tour is up” she replied irritatingly.  

Michael put his head down, but remained silent.  

“Think about it.  I’m serious Michael,” Lindsay said, slowly walking off and towards the showers.

 

_

 

Electing not to continue the discussion with his wife, after breakfast, Michael and Gavin went exploring around the base, where the boy showed a great deal of interest in what a “school” was.

Pointing towards a projector in a still unoccupied room, he looked at it in wonder.  “What’s that?,” he asked.

Michael chuckled.  “It’s called a projector.  Teachers put a clear sheet on it, and they can write so everyone can see it.  Like this!,” he said, flipping the machine on, and demonstrating by writing a sentence.  “See?  Even from WAY in the back, you can read it!,” he explained.

Gavin looked at the lines carefully.  “W..  What’s it say?,” he asked.

Taken aback, Michael turned around to ensure the words weren’t garbled up.  But sure enough “Gavin Free” was written plain as day, in an easy to read formatting.  “It’s your name.  Don’t know know how to write your own name?,” he asked, chuckling.

The boy shook his head.  “No.  Daddy wanted to teach me, but we always had to run.  He said when we got to California, he’d show me how to read and write!,” Gavin explained.

Looking away, MIchael sighed.  “Oh.  Sorry, kid,” he replied.

Unharmed in the slightest, Gavin rushed over to the supply closet, and opened it up.  Falling out of it, a set of VHS tapes went to his feet.  The boy picked them up, and showed them to Michael.  “What’s this?,” he asked.

Recognizing the bus with a face, Michael smiled.  “That’s a TV show.  It’s called the Magic School Bus.  It’s a show where you learn shit,” he replied.

“What’s TV?,” Gavin asked.

Dumbfounded, Michael shook his head.  “Uh…  You know, TV.  Shows?  Programs?  Things you watch?,” he explained.

Gavin shrugged.  “Uh, I don’t get it,” he replied.

“What, you’ve never seen TV before?  NEVER?,” Michael asked incredulously.

“No,” Gavin replied, putting his head down in shame.  “I’m sorry, was I supposed to?,” he said, in a clearly hurt tone.

Slapping himself on the face, Michael left a deep red mark.  “Oh for fuck’s sake…  COME HERE,” Michael said, grabbing several other VHS tapes and Gavin’s free hand, dragging him out of the classroom and back into the long stretch of hallways.

 

_

 

Having spent her free day catching up with family back in New York via telephone, Lindsay finally returned to her and Michael’s room, wiping away a fresh set of tears.  Though as she entered the room, the tears were quickly replaced by a look of wonder.  Sat in a musty old recliner, in front of an ancient TV and VCR, was Gavin and Michael.  Michael was knocked out, snoring obnoxiously, while Gavin was watching the TV show with wonder and a sense of abandonment.

It was then that he did something she had never seen him do before.  The boy laughed.

“Gavin?  What are you watching?,” Lindsay asked, slowly walking inside.  

Looking towards her, Gavin grinned as wide as his cheeks could handle.  “The Magic School Bus!  Did you know that rain comes from the CLOUDS?  Or that Salmon swim UPSTREAM?  Or that if you take off your helmet in pluto, you freeze to death?!,” he asked excitedly.

She giggled.  “Yeah.  I saw that stuff when I was a kid too,” Lindsay replied, taking a seat next to them, on her couch.  Looking at the dozens of discarded VHS sleeves, and the stack of video tapes next to the TV, it was clear what they had been doing all day.  

“Hey Mrs. Jones, can I ask you something?,” Gavin said.

Rolling her eyes, she groaned.  “Call me Lindsay, or Linds.  And sure, what’s up?,” Lindsay asked.

Shyly, Gavin paused the TV with the remote, clearly having difficulty remembering buttons, and accidentally ejecting the tape.  “Uh…  Do you not want kids?,” he asked.

Taken aback, Lindsay snorted.  “W..  What?,” she asked.

Blushing, Gavin looked away.  “Um…  Well, Michael asked me if I wanted to…  Um…  Come with you guys, and…  Live with you, back in New York, if he, uh, left the army.  He said he’d have to ask you first, but…  Um…  I just wanted to make sure it was okay,” he said, rather fearfully.

Smiling, Lindsay nodded immediately.  “Absolutely Gavin!  I’d love to have you living with us!  Why wouldn’t I?,” she asked.

Whatever laughter and happiness the boy had earlier, was now replaced with an equivalent amount of fear and terror.  “Um…  Cuz Mommies scare me, and Michael said that’s what you’d be,” he replied.

Ignoring the scream of terror in the back of her head at being “a mother”, she instead opted to focus on the equally disturbing statement.  “Mommies scare you?  Why?,” Lindsay managed to choke out.

Gavin bit the bottom of his lip, and slowly tucked himself back into Michael’s chest.  “They just do…” he said, unwilling to diverge much else.  

Before she could get much else out of him, Caiti opened the door and shut it behind her.  “Michael!  Lindsay!,” she whispered loudly.

Stirring awake, Michael rubbed his eyes, and stretched out.  “Hey Cait, did Gavin’s blood work finally come back?,” he asked.

Nervously, she moved forward to them, and handed them an all too familiar blood analysis form.  “This is…  Gavin’s analysis,” Caiti said.

Taking it, Lindsay scrunched her face up.  “Uh, Caiti, this can’t be right.  The blood test isn’t red or black.  You must have done it wrong,” she said, handing off to Michael, who began looking at it as well.

Caiti shook her head.  “There is NO mistake.  I used three different machines, and compared my own blood.  The results are…  Correct,” she said.

Michael flipped the paper back around, revealing a large blue blotch.  “His blood type is blue?  Caiti, what the fuck?!   Aren’t there just two blood types?  Human is red, and Lost are black!,” he shouted.

Not waiting any longer, she produced a syringe and a tourniquet.  “No time to explain.  Burnie’s coming to check, and I need a sample from you Michael.  A male sample that can fool the test, until I can figure out what’s up with him, and come up with a plausible explanation.  Come on, hurry up, roll up your sleeve!,” she said, wrapping a plastic wire around his arm.

“Is there something wrong with me?,” Gavin asked, covering his mouth in fear.  

Caiti smiled back, as she tapped a needle into Michael’s arm.  “No sweetie!  Absolutely not!  I’m just trying to figure out what this all means, and…  I don’t want any trouble because of it,’ she said, filling a small vial with Michael’s blood, and hiding a look of sheer terror from the small child.


	8. Friendless

> _I think the biggest tactical headache  with the years immediately after the “zombie outbreak”, was unity and teamwork being a non-existent factor.  The US states, fearing for themselves, quickly disbanded from the US federal system and thought only of themselves.  While each state found their borders overwhelmed, the others would use their suffering as an “opportunity” to strengthen their own defenses, or to evacuate. While California was literally “eaten away”, Nevada evacuated to the East Coast, moving their entire army groups._
> 
> _A sickening thought, to be sure.  Many who made those orders would be later arrested and put into prison for the rest of their lives under the Burns administration, but their acts were done, and could never be taken back.  The death of millions could never be undone._
> 
> _Ultimately, the lack of cooperation was the downfall of why over half the country was abandoned and left to rot with the Lost menace.  By the time people realized HOW to fix the problem, it was too late.  The moment the Lost outnumbered humanity, all was lost.  At least, that was the words from the higher-ups, who only kept up the fight to give us something to do until the end._
> 
> _Don’t believe me?  Go to the library, and look up the “Grimdark Memo”, which has, by now, become a major motion picture, and the cause of Mr. Burns’ election as president.  Several excerpts below have been copied for this purpose._
> 
> _-….to which, the President’s finest men have all come upon the same, tragic conclusion.  With supplies ultimately set to run out, and with the Lost growing in number on a daily basis, there can be only one conclusion drawn from all of this.  The United State of America, as we know it, will soon come to an end…_
> 
> _-…only if unity had been taken sooner, the threat could have been contained.  As it stands, however, it is merely too late._
> 
> _-…steps, naturally, can be taken to extend the time remaining for us.  A central, unifying organization, such as the CDC, can be the base of all operations, and be a driving force that wills our countrymen and women to protect, and hold out for hope…_
> 
> _-The contents of this memo are not to be divulged to any outside of its recipients.  The common man must not know that all is lost.  For if they know, chaos will run in the streets, and what few years we have remaining will be taken._
> 
> _How sad.  Had any of us listened to our national leaders, we would have all been dead by now._
> 
> _Instead?  By following what was right, and never surrendering to “statistics” or “probabilities”, we managed to fight and win our homeland back._
> 
> _I’m  not saying politics are the worst thing in the world, I’m just saying that, given the chance, they could wipe-out the entire country, either intentionally, or unintentionally._
> 
> _-Loveless ; Chapter VIII_

=

> _“I was never a fan of our alliance with the Dallas branch, and I hated their commanding officers even worse than I hated Commander Ramsey.  Probably because they got better funding, were filled to the bring with snotty assholes, and just had that general “uppity” sense of superiority, for no goddamn reason.  Their tactically “advantageous” site made their efforts “more important”, as the upper ranks would say, and that made us at the Austin Branch feel like we were just tag-alongs, or like a little brother/sister that wasn’t all that important._
> 
> _Still, there was an unspoken rule between us that neither could ever ignore.  Should one call for aid, the other would come running immediately._
> 
> _I may have hated their guts, but I hated the lost more._
> 
> _Besides, I met one of my best friends there, and my son met the girl that would one day be his wife._
> 
> _So I guess things were for the best.” - Michael Jones ; CDC Freedom Corps_

=

Without a second glance, the “peaceful” days of free time quickly came to a close.  In that short time, however, both Michael and Gavin learned plenty about themselves, and about their surroundings.  

Michael learned that even with a small child to protect his face, he should NOT attempt to explore the restricted area of the library, because he WILL get slapped.  Gavin, on the other hand, discovered what a “nudie mag” is, as well as what the backside of a hand looked like.  They both learned to NEVER cross Mrs. Sorola after that.

Michael found that children, much like parrots, will repeat EVERYTHING you say, so its best to watch ti.   Gavin, on the other hand, quickly learned from the men of the base what was “not okay” to share with wives or commanding officers.  Such as repeating the “who’s the hottest” contest results from the single men, or the “shit list” of the worst officers.

Ultimately, the entire base came to love Gavin, and the smile that he would bring to their faces on a daily basis.  

Though perhaps most important of all, Michael learned what it meant to be a father, and Gavin slowly began to think of himself as someone else’s son.  Late nights cuddling in the recliner, enjoying pre-recorded children’s cartoons, there was a warmth in the boy’s heart that was slowly melting away his cold, hardened exterior.    

Though as the fun times began, they just as quickly ended.  Back into the daily adventures of “zombie-bating”, and mass-executions, Michael and Gavin were as busy as always.  Austin, for all intents and purposes, had almost eradicated their lost population after three months of hard work.  Their success had gotten the attention of the main Atlanta branch, but Burnie had insisted on keeping their “secret weapon” a secret, instead reporting a new “bait” tactic was under testing.

All was normal, but before they left for one day’s mission, however, the two had been called with a small entourage into Burnie’s office.  

Sitting with the elite scouts of Kerry and Miles, their direct supervisor Geoff, and the other Commanding officers in Joel & Burnie,

Burnie took a deep breath, and brought the meeting to an open.  “I’m sorry to break our typical operations like this, but we’ve got a mission as of 7 AM this morning that trumps our standing orders,” he said.  His voice was shaky, and not the friendly tone it usually was.

Turning to Geoff, Michael could clearly see even his supervisor was taken aback by the statement.  Few things overturned the highest order to take out the Lost menace, and Michael had NEVER seen one in action before.  

“At 6:48 AM this morning, the Dallas Branch of the CDC Freedom Corps called in to the Atlanta Main Base, requesting backup.  Their group has been surrounded by Lost, and they cannot exterminate them quickly enough.  They are requesting rescue immediately,” Burnie said in an official, stuffy tone.

“Holy shit,” Geoff mumbled, scratching his beard, as the color began leaving his face.  

“What’s the plan?,” Miles asked, not the least bit bothered by the words.

Joel turned on the monitors behind Burnie, which showed a general outside of downtown Dallas.  A fenced off skyscraper, the CDC Dallas Headquarters, was circled in red.  “The plan is simple.  Gavin and Michael will utilize their typical baiting technique, drawing away as many as they can.  Miles and Kerry will support.  Furthermore, Geoff and his men will clear out the back entrance, allowing the CDC soldiers to escape through transport we’ll bring and their own maneuver gears.  We will try to save as many resources as possible,” he explained.

Gripping Michael tightly, Gavin buried himself in the man’s chest.  

“It’s okay Gavin, we’ll be saving people!  This time, YOU get to be the superhero!,” Michael said, with the best tone he could muster.

The boy peeked up from Michael’s lap, and showed just the tiniest grin ever conceived.

“How exactly do you plan to move their entire staff?  They’re about 75-100 people, last time I checked.  For fuck’s sake, our best transport can only grab about 50, tops,” Geoff asserted.

Burnie nodded.  “That’s correct.  Non-combat personnel will get first priority, and will be in and on top of the transport.  That will cover about 35.  The rest will require marching or Maneuver Gear,” he explained.

Visibly irritated at this point, Geoff could only manage to laugh.  “Okay, I’m sorry, but how bad is it REALLY there?  They’re as good as we are, can’t they just escape on their own?,” he asked, clearly mocking the Dallas Branch.

Shrugging, Burnie leaned back in his seat.  “No idea.  We don’t have a visual, and I’m just following orders.  Taken the multigroup transport and get going.  NOW.  They wanted us on the road half an hour ago,” he said.

Everyone in the room shot up, and began moving on the double.  Michael hefted Gavin up, and dashed off to say his goodbyes to Lindsay.

Although Miles and Kerry remained behind, staring directly into Burnie’s face.

“Monty wouldn’t let things get that bad.  What the hell is going on over there?,” Miles asked angrily.

Burnie looked away, and remained silent.

-

One of the few vehicles that the CDC granted to groups beyond the front lines was the Multigroup Transport, or the MGT.  A glorified school bus with steel plating and unbreakable glass, the MGT ran on the same electrical engine as the Maneuver Gears, but required weeks to charge, and was bulky.  Though it was handy for large groups, and the best when it came to large-scale rescues.  

Five hours on the road, passing thousands of abandoned cars, and broken into homes, the Austin rescue squad were had taken in the countryside, a rare treat for many of them.  

Eventually though, after bumbling down the highway and into the main sity, the MGT finally got within range of the Dallas CDC as they turned into the city limits.  

“WOW!  It;s really big here!,” Gavin said, pointing to the huge skyscrapers, and gigantic buildings everywhere.  Thankfully, the boy’s naivety missed the “trapped” lost scraping against the windows that the Dallas CDC had been keeping inside buildings, and that would burn or detonate  when filled to capacity.

“Something’s not right.  These buildings are WAY too full.  There have NEVER been this many lost here before.  When we left for Austin, we had HALF of these,” Kerry said, shaking his head.

Miles folded his arms.  “What on EARTH is bringing so many Lost out here?  This is insane!,” he shouted, noting an entire squad of Lost screeching beside them.  

“This is weird, you know.  When I was scavving way back when, I met up with a bunch of Sirens, and nearly shat my pants,” Michael mumbled, covering Gavin’s ears.  

“We’re almost there!,” Ray shouted, driving around another corner, and into full view of the Dallas CDC.

The entire bus went silent, and Michael covered Gavin’s eyes.

“H..  H…  Holy shit…” Geoff said, stuttering.  

“My god, what the fucking hell,” Michael exclaimed.

The whole group were staring at the tallest building in Dallas.  Several THOUSAND lost were covering the entire outside of the building.  Like a group of ants attacking a cube of sugar, the horde had completely enveloped the area.  On the ground floor, dozens of Sirens were shrieking orders as loudly as they could.

“You better not trip Jones, or you are fucking DEAD,” Geoff said bitterly.


	9. Wordless

> _National Census data showed that the population of the United States was roughly 300 million at the time of the Lost Disaster._
> 
> _The national census wasn’t able to be accurately held until 5 years after the Lost Disaster ended._
> 
> _The population at that time (which, I’ll be the first to admit is not accurate, due to the survivalists that are still in deep hiding at time of publication) is roughly 20-30 million._
> 
> _Over 200 million lives were lost in the process of the Lost Disaster.  40% of those were killed to feed the Lost.  30% died of starvation, were “zombified”, or died or natural causes.  20% died of suicide, murder and/or injuries sustained in the disaster.  10% were court martialed or executed under martial law._
> 
> _I try to make sense of these numbers every day._
> 
> _I try._
> 
> _Unfortunately, I feel as though numbers don’t do this massive loss of life any justice._
> 
> _I watched an entire platoon slaughtered by lost._
> 
> _How do you think they feel being part of the 40%?  Being a statistic in a book?_
> 
> _They were people.  People who deserved to have their stories told.  People who had families, lives, and a heart._
> 
> _But why do I still explain the numbers?  Why do I degrade their honor?_
> 
> _Because frankly, it needs to be said._
> 
> _200 million, gone in the span of only a few decades._
> 
> _So if you are reading this, and are ever in a situation where someone says there might be a massive loss of life, no matter HOW ludicrous it sounds?_
> 
> _Investigate them._
> 
> _Don’t let something like this ever happen again._
> 
> _-Loveless ; Chapter 9_

_____

> _“When we arrived to assist the Dallas CDC branch, we never imagined it would become as big as it did.  People called it “The Second Battle of Dallas”, when we finished up and went back home.  It’s because of that that I was promoted, and it was this event that set in motion what would change EVERYTHING.” - Michael Jones ; CDC Freedom Corps_

_____

After strapping Gavin into his suit, Michael positioned himself at the end of the vehicle.  

“Ready!?,” Geoff asked, watching from the front.

Michael nodded.  “We’re ready!,” he shouted.

At the front, Geoff pulled a small lever next to the driver’s seat.  The back hatch popped open, and the city air filled Michael’s lungs, leaving him with an odd sense of reminiscence over his own hometown.  Even infected with the horde of Lost, the city of Dallas remained the same on the outside.

Pressing the handles inside his hand, Michael shot the tethering cables from the back of the mobile unit, which attached itself on a power pole.  Michael retracted it, and the two of them flew forward, flying through the sky.

The Lost covering the Dallas skyscraper stopped their whining and crying all in unison.  The once piercing wails that covered the Dallas area, became silent, generating an eerie sensation throughout all those in the region.  

One by one, each Lost released their grip from the building, and fell dozens of flights, slamming into the corpses on the ground floor.  A blackened skeleton, of a Siren, pointed in Michael’s direction, letting out a shrill scream.

With a hastened, almost jogging pace, the Lost began clamboring towards them.

All of them.

All several thousand of them.

“Ho-ly shit,” Michael mumbled, not wasting anymore time, and flinging himself  in the opposite direction, attaching to another power pole and flying off.

-

From inside the safety of their armored bus, Geoff was mesmerized.  There they were, in a SEA of Lost, waiting for them to pass by.  Not only were they ignoring the Dallas Headquarters, but the Lost were ignoring THEM.  

Experience had shown Geoff that Lost NEVER turn away a meal, thus creating a mental trauma inside of him.

Why.  Why leave us?  Why…  Why didn’t you leave THEM!?

“‘Commander Ramsey!  We need to move!,” Ray shouted from the front.

Brought back to his senses, Geoff nodded, noting that the Lost had finally passed them, and the way to the Dallas HQ was open once more.  “Go!,” Geoff shouted, pointing his hand to their destination.

Ray put the vehicle into “drive”, and began moving forward.  Following their previous orders, they drove around the barricaded region, and moved towards the gate next to the parking garage that had been bolted up with steel farming.  A small antenna was sticking out of a console attached to the wall.

Pulling a small PDA from his belt, Geoff held it up to his face and spoke into it.  “CDC COMMAND UNIT G RAMSEY.  PASSCODE 626.  EXECUTE OPEN,” he said sternly.

Accepting his command, the steel doors slowly opened, revealing the darkness of the parking area.  Ray started pulling forward, knowing the doors would not open for long.

Geoff turned around to face his comrades.  “Okay ladies, listen up!  Our mission is simple.  Help evacuate the Dallas CDC Freedom Corps.  Children and non-combat personnel get priority inside the mobile units.  Dallas has one as well, so make sure it’s hot and ready to go, and re-fuel ours to the BRIM.  I’ll work with the commander in charge here, the rest of you aid to the best of your abilities.  Understand?!,” he barked out.

“YES SIR!,” Ray, Miles, and Kerry shouted in response.  

Seeing the loading dock, with a matching transport unit like their own, Ray parked right next to it, while Geoff began fiddling with his private PDA, trying to find the correct radio frequency.

“You’re shitting me.  THEY ACTUALLY MADE IT?!,” a male voice shouted out in a deep static.

Geoff sighed at the implication of their incompetence, and rolled his eyes.  “This is Commander Ramsey of the Austin CDC, here for rescue.  Please identify yourself,” he shouted.

The radio was silent for a while, until it came to life again.

A new voice came on the other line.

“This is Commander Ryan Haywood of the Dallas CDC.  Please forgive my subordinate, he’s rather rude with potential saviors.  I won’t bother you with small talk now.  Our non-combatants are on floor 59, we’re on floor 60.  Please evacuate 59 first, and meet us on 60 Commander.  We have sensitive materials that need transportation,” the voice said, firmly.

“Understood.  I’ll met you on 60, my men will start on 59,” Geoff said, cutting off the communication.  He turned to the three assistants.  “You heard him!  GET TO IT!,” he shouted.

-

The horde was horrifying in the streets of Dallas.  No matter how fast Michael slung himself and Gavin in the air, it just wasn’t fast enough.  Even though they outpaced the Lost by a WIDE margin, the sheer volume coming from all directions.  An hour later, and they still hadn’t gotten a safe enough zone away for a break.

The straps had sunken into Michael’s skin, and bruises were already forming into the sore spots.  HIs groin was on fire, and the additional weight from Gavin was wearing his abdomen down into a sore mass of muscles.

Michael, as he turned a wide corner, took a look down at Gavin to check on him.  Despite the fact that they’d been doing this for months now, he could tell that the boy was frightened beyond comprehension.  Even Michael’s well-trained hands were trembling with each grasp of the tethering controls.

The all too familiar beeping sound overwhelmed Michael, and he groaned audibly.  

“We’ve got to land!,” Michael shouted, hoping Gavin heard it.  

Seeing a large window, Michael gulped, and covered Gavin’s face with his arms.  He retracted his tethers one last time, and shot them through the flimsy glass.  Shattering, a new opening was available for them, and Michael leapt through it.  He dodge-rolled into the room, continuing to shield Gavin from the shards of glass littering the carpeting.  He switched off the Trinity Gear, and gigantic pools of steam shot out of the electric engines.  

“Goddamnit…” Michael mumbled, seeing that he would be down for a good ten minutes.  He could start up again, but he’d barely get anywhere.  

“Are we okay?,” Gavin asked, tugging at Michael’s collar.  

Michael turned a big smile.  “Yeah, we just gotta rest the machine a bit, it almost overheated.  We’ll get flying soon,” he said, taking stock of the area around him.  

Clearly, it was an office of sorts, perhaps even a CEO’s room.  There was plush carpeting, a large lounge chair, and even a private bar.  Luxuries that none had none for a long time.

Standing up, he moved over to the bar area, and began scavenging.  Even in the middle of a mission, there was no sense in wasting time.  The Lost would be a ways away, and there were plenty of ways for him to escape from the room on the opposite end, through a new window he could easily break.

“What’s THAT?,” Gavin asked, pointing towards a crystalline flask.

Michael grinned, and picked up the flask, filled with an amber liquid.  

“That, good buddy, is Whiskey.  They haven’t had this stuff ANYWHERE in years,” Michael explained, with a devious grin.  He threw the bottle in his knapsack, and continued scrounging up whatever else he could.  A bottle of aged wine, a bag or two of peanuts, and a priceless lighter, completely unused.

Gavin cringed.  “They’re coming!,” he shouted.

Tensing up, Michael checked his gear, and noted it was still cooling.  

“How far?,” Michael asked.

“They’re climbing the walls….” Gavin stuttered.

He huffed in response.  “let’s go then,” Michael said, flipping back on his Trinity Gear.  The machine whirred angrily in response.

“Shuttup Gandalf, I’m counting on you babe,” Michael said to his machine, patting it lovingly.  With a running start, he flung himself through the window they’d entered from, and dive-bombed to the ground.  Like Gavin had said, Lost were at the bottom floor, trying to climb up the walls.  Midway through the fall, Michael shot out his tethers, and attached them across the street.  He dodged several swipes from the Lost by several feet, and returned on his way, attempting to distract them from his comrades far across the way.

-

Opening the 60th floor, Geoff let himself in, and was presented with a technology lab.  A circular room with dozens of computers and monitors, and many sciency individuals in labcoats were running around like chickens, packing up as many things as possible.

The leader, a stout, masculine man with sandy blonde hair moved up towards him.  Even in his late thirties, he was on the level of the youngest, and most able of soldiers.  Wearing a similar outfit to their own, except in a scarlet red, he was Commander Haywood, the leader of the Dallas Unit, and one of the favored commanders in all of the CDC army.  A decorated veteran of many years, he was most well known for the Battle of Dallas, where he fought for weeks to insure that everyone was evacuated.  Even after the front line had been broken through, the unit he worked for refused to leave.  Haywood, even for Geoff, was a man to be respected.

Ryan took Geoff’s hand and shook it firmly.  “Thank you for coming.  I have no idea how you managed to distract all those Lost, but you’ve saved us ALL,” he exclaimed.

“Not a problem, but what’s the holdup here?  Non-critical personnel are all loaded up, and…  NONE of you are downstairs yet.  These computers ARE NOT important.  Get your asses down there, because two of my MEN are out there fighting for their goddamn lives making sure you can get out of here,” he shouted.  

The respect for Commander Haywood, unfortunately, did not spare him from Geoff’s wrath.

Ryan shut his eyes, and took his hand away.  “Commander Ramsey, the data in these machines are mission critical.  We cannot just-”

Geoff put his finger directly in Ryan’s face and fronted on him.  “You have 10 seconds to tell me what’s so important on those computers, why the Atlanta Headquarters DEMANDED we come save your sorry asses, before I pull you out of here MYSELF,” he screamed.

Sighing, Ryan shook his head.  “These machines contain data from the California Genetic Disease Division.  The first and only lab that had the original samples of the first Spawn that was ever created.  In these machines…  Is the potential for a solution to the Lost,” he said, simply and precisely.

The finger was quickly removed from Ryan’s face.  “W..  What?!,” Geoff stammered out.

Ryan signaled behind him, to a large-scaled monitor.  On it, was hundreds of lines of equations and formulas that he had zero chance of understanding.  

_G-293-F-001 Chemical Line Composition - Lost Genome Conformance Project - “Project Free”_

“With so many Lost subjects here in Dallas, it’s been a perfect testing ground.  In short, we’re trying to control the Lost, and we’re THIS fucking close to cracking their genetic coding,” Ryan said, putting his fingers within an inch of themselves.

Geoff got on his PDA and slammed the button as hard as he could.  “RAY, MILES, KERRY, GET  YOUR ASSES UP HERE NOW!  WE NEED YOUR HELP MOVING!,” he screamed.


	10. Trustless

> _Science has a place in our nation that it never had before the Lost invaded.  Children, both little girls and little boys, are taught at a  young age that it was science that saved our world.  Under President Burns, schools are given 45% of the military’s original budget, and upon our return to the UN, we were the 2nd highest scoring nation in terms of science and mathematics._
> 
> _Of course the bravery of the men and women are arms are not to be lessened.  Under the authority of Secretary of State Ramsey, troops were given rights and veteran benefits that they had never experienced before.  The barrier between the sexes was eliminated completely, and the antiquated “morals” code was finally dropped.  Joining the military was no longer a matter of strict discipline, but instead was a great honor for anyone._
> 
> _Knowledge of our scientists, strength of our commanders and courage of our soldiers are what saved this world._
> 
> _The fact of the matter is that it is knowledge and wisdom that armed our troops, and the bravery of our troops brought the knowledge and wisdom the power that they needed for their execution._
> 
> _This idea of unity was something that only a great tragedy could ever bring about in the world.  A sad fact, of course, but one that made us stronger._
> 
> _Loveless ; Chapter 9_

 

+++++

 

> _I regret not trusting Burnie’s unit sooner.  I especially regret everything I did soon after.  Oh well, at least I didn’t fuck everything up too terribly.  Actually, I think it was because of me that everything got kicked in the ass.  So…  You should probably thank me!  Well, everyone except Gavin._
> 
> _\-  Commander Ryan Haywood_

“MOVE YOUR GODDAMN ASSES!,” Geoff screeched through the bottom floor and towards the staircases.  After the intimidation of his voice, two masked soldiers picked up their pace, carrying a large server together, and rushing to the mobile command center that the Dallas Branch had been packing up.  

Unlike the cheaper “bus” that Austin’s unit had driven in with, the tank-like object was a remarkable invention of the CDC Freedom Corps that was the size of a small building.  As the height of Technology from the East, it could hold an entire company of soldiers, and had a wireless uplink to the Atlanta databases.  Full weaponry and a mounted turret only added to its remarkable size and arsenal.  

After the footsoldiers had loaded the server into the back hatch bay, Geoff jumped in after them, as they began to shut it tightly.

The three of them walked into the main command center, where Ryan was issuing orders to the many lab specialists, who were sat at their stations, entering data at a rapid pace.  Everything was metallic, with the exception of the cushioned seats, and the plasma screens glowing over the region. It looked like something out of a science fiction comic he read as a child, just dumbed down a tad.  It wasn’t unlike their own lab back at the Austin Branch, just miniaturized and with better computers.

“Nice place…  I can tell where all of our cut budget went to the last year,” Geoff moaned, eyeing everything around him in a dark envy.

Ryan turned as Geoff joined them. “Is everyone out?,” he asked, ignoring the obvious budgetary insult.

Geoff nodded.  “My main unit’s already on the way back to Austin with the civilians on-board.  Your foot soldiers are right behind them marching, and the horde of zombies are still being distracted by my special dual-force.  We need to launch, escape from the underground, and pick up my men ASAP.  They’ve got to be exhausted by now„” he explained.

“Understood,” Ryan said, spinning around and signaling to the pilot at the front of the command center.  “We’re LEAVING,” he ordered.

The pilot, at the front of the command unit, pressed several switches, which brought the overpowered engine to life.  Not unlike that of a nuclear generator, Geoff could FEEL the radiation of energy flowing into the vehicle, as each and every pale blue light illuminated the world around them.  

“Override 6-2-6, OPEN THE GATE!,” Ryan ordered.

The steel gates that their group had entered in just a few hours earlier slowly creaked open, and the mobile command unit quickly hastened out of it, breaking off half of the gate in the process.  

“There goes the re-sell value,” Geoff muttered as they made their way onto the main streets, and driving far faster than he’d ever thought was possible.  

Ryan chuckled.  “Oh, just wait…” he mumbled, pulling out a small box with a giant red button on it.  He presented it to Geoff, and pressed it himself.

Even unable to see the building they’d previously been in, the sound of a massive explosion, toppling concrete, and the shattering of glass was more than enough to give him a mental picture.

“My mistake, there goes the neighborhood,” Geoff said, giving Ryan an incredulous look of confusion and anger, mixed with a bit of fear.

Ryan just shrugged it off, moving to the largest chair at the central table.  “The building had state secrets, Lost specimens, live Spawn specimens, and just dark knowledge that no man should ever see.  Had to go, orders from the top.  Glad you guys got us too, otherwise that would have been us caught up in that explosion.  Kudos to you guys, really,” he said, with an oddly pleasant smile.

Taking several steps away from the creepy commander, Geoff sat on the farthest opposite chair.  He folded his arms on the table, trying not to look Ryan directly in the eyes.

“Comm code for your unit?  I’m not sure how many of your men we can fit in here, but we’ll be more than happy to accommodate them.  I’m guessing fifty to sixty?,” Ryan asked, accessing the panel at his seat.

“58044, and it’s just two men.  A soldier named Jones, and his partner named Free,” he explained.  

Ryan laughed.  “Two men, that’s pretty funny.  It takes fifty or more to even SLIGHTLY get the Lost’s attention,” he joked, entering the frequency into the computer.   Within moments of connecting, a ping echoed throughout the room.

“Austin Distraction Unit, this is Commander Ryan Haywood of the Dallas Branch.  What is your position?,” Ryan asked in an official capacity.

A loud THUD to the side of the command unit was oddly well timed.

“We’re right on top of you guys!  LET US IN, MY TRINITY GEAR IS OUT OF JUICE, AND THEY’RE ON OUR ASSES!,” Michael screamed.

“Your location?  I don’t understand what you mean!,’ Ryan asked.

“WE’RE RIGHT ON TOP OF YOU!  OPEN THE TOP HATCH YOU DIPSHIT!,” Michael screamed.

“OH!,” Ryan shouted, signaling to one of his men.  

The soldier threw a red switch to the side, which blasted open the uppermost hatch.  Falling from the sky, Michael fell back-first onto the central table between Geoff and Ryan, with Gavin still strapped to his stomach.  He groaned at the impact, swearing notably underneath his breath.  

Closing the top hatch, many of the soldiers eyed him painfully.

“Where’s the rest of your unit?!  Don’t tell me you just abandoned them!,” Ryan exclaimed.

Michael unstrapped Gavin, who immediately rolled off his chest and onto the floor with a loud thud.  

Realizing that there was a CHILD involved, Ryan’s eyes widened significantly.

“Who is HE?!,” he shouted.

“That’s Free, Jones’ partner” Geoff explained.

Michael finally sat up on his own, stretching out his sore muscles.  “What unit are you talking about?  Tt was just me and Gavin here,” he mumbled, slowly sliding himself off the table, and into the nearest chair possible.  He unhooked his trinity gear, letting the heavy metal slink against the floor.

Ryan’s jaw slowly fell to the ground.  “Oh my God, you weren’t kidding.  There’s…  There’s just the two of you!,” he exclaimed.

“That’s what I said, dumbass,” Geoff said, kicking his boots up on the table.  “Jones and Free are our Distraction Unit,” he said matter-of-factly.  

Dumbfounded, Ryan could only shake his head at the impossibility of it all.  “That’s…  THERE IS NO WAY!  There is literally NO WAY!  After we ran that experi-…  I mean, how could they possibly get the attention of so many!?,” he shouted.

Geoff glanced away.  “I guess they really like little kids.  I dunno, do I look like a fucking scientist to you?  All I know is that when we strapped Free to Jones, they went after him like a big piece of ham,” he lied.

Ryan eyed the small child cautiously, who had clambered into Michael’s lap and hid in his broad shoulders.  “So what you’re explaining to me is that you’re using a live child as bait because a few zombies followed a child once?  That seems like odd reasoning to me,” he explained, turning to face the other adults in the room.  “How would you even know if it was a child that attracted them?  How on earth would you have come to that conclusion?  You’re lying to me Commander Ramsey, and I don’t appreciate it,” he exclaimed loudly.

Geoff just shrugged it off.  “What can I say, I’m just following Commander Burns’ orders.  Take it up with him once we’re back in Austin,” he replied quietly.

“Believe me, I WILL,” Ryan said, standing up and moving away from the table.  He went straight to one of his many soldiers, while Commander Ramsey caught up with his “soldiers”.  Leaning down, he whispered into the person’s ear.  “I want you to do a search with the Atlanta Database, for Gavin Free.  Find something, and find something BEFORE we reach Austin.

 

+

 

Back in Burnie’s office, Caiti was turtling her neck as Burnie flipped through the many pages of her medical reports.

“I find it odd that Gavin’s blood analysis is the exact same as Michael’s.  Especially considering they’re not related,” Burnie said, eying her knowingly.

Blushing, Caiti slowly scooted backwards.

“What did his blood analysis show?  Was it black?  Mrs. Pattillo, do you KNOW the punishment for hiding a black blood analysis?  I don’t want to have you executed!,” Burnie dictated, but without the harsh undertones that most army commanders would hold.  

Caiti mumbled something under her breath.

“What was that?,” Burnie asked again.

“IT WAS BLUE!,” Caiti shouted, immediately covering her mouth.

Burnie’s face lost all color.  “Excuse me?,” he insisted.

Shaking off her secret, Caiti sighed and pulled at her hair.  “It was blue!  I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life!  Humans have a red blood analysis, and Lost have a black blood analysis.  When the test came back blue, I didn’t know what to think, so I panicked!  I’ve been researching this for weeks now, but I can’t find ANYTHING!  Please don’t send him away Burnie, he’s not a Lost, I SWEAR IT!,” she shouted desperately.

Commander Burns shot up, and rushed to the bookshelf in the corner of his office.  He grabbed a gigantic binder and pulled it towards his desk.  Flipping through the pages, he came to the article in question that he’d been looking for.  Caiti joined him to glance over the documentation.

 

CDC National Commander Report - Research Division

Dallas Project : Blood Pattern Conversion (The Lost Genome Project)

CDC Research Corps : Commander Diane Maro

 

Through my years of research into the Lost, I have come to the conclusion that a cure is simply not possible.  Once the human mind and body have been compromised, there is no return.  

With this in mind, I have come to realize that our only hope of defeating this enemy is through subjugation.  We must make the Lost our own, and through their control can we take back our position as a world power.  

The only methodology I can come to think of is to create humans with a differing blood pattern than our own.  A blue blood type (more associated with mankind), capable of drawing massive quantities to one region, followed by a white blood type (more associated with the Lost), capable of issuing commands, similarly to how the Spawns control the Lost.  With these combined, we can overtake the Lost and make them our own.  

Research will begin within the next few months, and implementation will start in the following days.  

With this work, we WILL overtake the lost, and end this horrendous campaign once and for all.

 

The article was 20 pages long, but after reading the summary page, Burnie glanced upwards, and met Caiti’s cautious glance.  

“Commander Diane Maro…  The one that was court martialed after her child was born?  For genetic experimentation that broke the CDC Laws?  I remember hearing about this experiment, and how people flipped out over her ideas of using the Lost to rejoin the rest of the world.  She went a little insane, but that talk about a blue blood type…  Do you think that she?…,” Caiti asked, unable to finish her sentence.

Nodding, Burnie rubbed his beard anxiously.  “Caiti…  Did you know what Commander Maro’s maiden name was?,” he asked.

Caiti shook her head.

Burnie just chuckled.  “It was Free,”


	11. Blameless

> _As humans, we all believe we’re doing the right thing._
> 
> _As humans, we all believe our enemies are doing the wrong thing._
> 
> _At the end of the day, it is merely a matter of perception, and who had the biggest guns._
> 
> _It was by pure chance that for the first time in human history, did the bigger guns lost._
> 
> _\- Loveless, Chapter XI_

+

 

> _I forget what exactly was said, but I clearly remember the argument with Commander Haywood._
> 
> _We were two sides of the same coin, both wanting the same result._
> 
> _I don’t blame him._
> 
> _I mean, the first thing I did as President was to order the Secret Service to scare the shit out of him, but I don’t blame him._
> 
> _-Burnie Burns_

 

+

 

Salvation from zombies, as it seemed, was not enough to keep the peace between the higher ranked Dallas Soldiers and their saviors from Austin.

Roughly a week had passed since the two companies of soldiers had combined, and the Austin Branch had gotten very crowded and very tense once.  The chain-of-command was very difficult to follow, as soldiers began bickering back and forth, with no real authority to universally apply to everyone involved.  

Though a compromise was soon met out of necessity.  Commander Burns and Haywood ordered their men to separate quarters, with the Austin Branch keeping their original rooms, and the Dallas Branch stuck camping outside until further notice.  Civilians shared the gymnasium together, cramping up with tents and sleeping bags.

While the soldiers of Dallas were obsessed with “taking charge” as the higher ranked company and getting better rooms, Commander Haywood had other priorities.  

First and foremost was getting the truth out of Commander Burns.

“Two men.  I can name on one hand the number of commanders that would have a distraction unit made out of two men,” Ryan said, holding his hand up, and waving it across Burnie’s desk, and right in the commander’s face.  “It’s THIS hand, and it’s JUST YOU,” he continued to spit out, glaring incredulously.

“Ah, I see.  Well then, congratulations to your hand!,” Burnie shot back.  The snark in his voice was met only by his dark gaze.  Though he didn’t seem as if he were paying attention, scribbling something onto a small sticky pad.

Birds began chirping overhead, as several blue jays found their way to a windowsill, casting a shadow between the two.  As their wings flapped, the shadows danced.

Minutes of mutual silence were broken up as Ryan stood up from Burnie’s desk, and made his way to the side of the room, where he stared outside a window, and onto a group of civilians washing clothes.  “The boy, Gavin.  My men did a look through the Atlanta database.  No records other than what your unit recorded for his blood analysis and citizenship application.  It’s not uncommon for children out past the front line to not have birth certificates, but what IS odd is for the child’s parents not to be listed.  Even more odd is that his blood analysis matches that of Mr. Michael Jones perfectly,” he explained, with as much authority as he could muster.  

“Michael and Lindsay Jones will be his parents.  They’re waiting until they are done with their forced military service before they make it official.  I wouldn’t worry,” Burnie said, completely missing the point, and dodging his line of questioning.

The scent of cigarette smoke was pungent from Burnie’s desk as the older male took a long drag.  He spat out a long stream of smoke, which glowed in the sun’s early morning rays.

Ryan spun back around.  “That doesn’t really You KNOW what he is, and what he’s capable of.  I’m no fool, Mr. Burns,” he said blankly.

The ticking of the clock on Burnie’s wall was audible to all, as the awkward silence was deafening between them.

Burnie cocked his head curiously, heaving slowly.  “What do you think he is?,” he asked bluntly.

The sound of laughing children from the schoolyard below broke through the silence, as both men’s gazes refused to break from each other.

“He’s half of Maro’s key.  The blue blood type,” Ryan replied.

Chuckling, Burnie shook his head.  “Maro’s what?  Is that a brand of Cat food?” he replied, gagging his way out of the conversation.  At the same time, he slowly slipped the earlier sticky-note to the bottom of his boots.

“DON’T YOU DARE LIE TO ME!,” Ryan shouted, slamming his and onto the wall, and cracking the wood paneling.  

Burnie stood up and eyed him seriously.  “Out of my office, NOW.  Go back to Atlanta, we have no need for you here!” he shouted angrily.

Ryan brought his hand down, and shook away the blood that had formed.  ‘Mr. Burns, Commander Diane Maro was a remarkable scientist.  Six or seven years ago, we had NO idea that Dallas would fall.  We had NO idea that Austin would fall.  Hell, our Government had no idea how BAD this shit would turn out to actually be.  Commander Maro was executed because of her crossing ethical bounds we thought was wrong.  What we DIDN’T know is that she was our one and only hope.  There is no “cure” like what our nation wants.  There is ONLY her way now!” he shouted.

“You’re not taking him and using him as some lab experiment.  He’s a boy,” Burnie shot back.

The laughter from Commander Haywood was uncontained.  “Says the man who used him as live bait?” he mocked.  Shaking his head, Ryan sighed heavily.  “Maro couldn’t finish the white blood type.  With Gavin in our hands, we COULD see what she did.  Our experiments in Dallas wouldn’t be for nothing!,” he shouted.

“Ah, and give the United States a legion of the undead at their command.  That couldn’t POSSIBLY go wrong!  Sorry, but I think I’ll take our chances with something else,” Burnie replied, rolling his eyes angrily.  

Ryan, oddly enough, seemed to smirk.  “So you’d rather the Lost go unchecked than a viable solution?” he asked.

“I’d rather we not create a problem down the line once we’ve re-taken our homes,” Burnie replied quickly.

“I see…” Ryan whispered, moving to the front of Burnie’s office, and opening the door open.  WAiting in the wings were three armed Dallas soldiers, who quickly entered and pointed their firearms in Burnie’s direction.

“W…  What is this!?” Burnie shouted, stepping backwards.

Ryan signaled for his men to enter the room, and they surrounded him.  “Commander Burns, I hereby place you under arrest for aiding and embedding the enemy, and for directly violating your primary directive.  I will be taking control of your post until an appropriate replacement can be found,” he explained with a smirk.

Man-handled, Burnie couldn’t resist as the three armed men grabbed him by the arms, cuffed him, and quickly began shoving him towards the door and out the hallway.  

“BURNIE!” Geoff shouted, running out of his own office as he noted his friend being pulled away.

Rushing towards them, Geoff was soon stopped as a rifle was jammed in his face.

“I wouldn’t,” one of Ryan’s soldiers said brutally.

A low growl escaped Geoff’s throat.  

“Geoff, I’m under arrest and they’re taking Gavin.  Don’t fight this, that’s an order!,” Burnie said sternly.

Taken aback by his commander’s less than enthusiastic response, there was an unspoken exchange.  Flicking his ears, Burnie signaled down to his feed subtly, where he scuffed a sticky note onto the floor.  Undetected, Burnie was pulled away, with his white note laid against the cracked tile of the classroom floors.  

Waiting until after the four of them had left the hallway, Geoff picked up the note and scanned it quickly.

 

Get Gavin to safety and take only the people you trust with you.  Don’t let anyone have him, at any costs.  In my office, on the third shelf will be everything you need to know about Gavin and what he means to this world.  This is my last order as your Commander.

 

Geoff looked up from the note, breathing in and out quickly.  Without a moment of hesitation, he spun around and darted quickly into Burnie’s office, locking the door behind him.

 

+

 

Safe in the Jones’ residence in the makeshift kindergarten room, Gavin and Michael were curled up on the couch in their lazy clothes, watching the latest in a long string of movies.  The darkness of the room was only illuminated by the fuzzy television broadcast.  

“Michael, how come we can’t go outside?,” Gavin asked, leaning his head up on Michael’s chest.

Scoffing slowly, Michael could only shake his head.  “Commander Burns’ orders buddy.  We gotta do what the boss man says,” he answered, hoping to end the line of questioning quickly.  

“Why?,” Gavin asked.

“Because he said so,” Michael shot back.

“But why?,” Gavin asked again.

Michael just shrugged.  “I dunno, don’t look at me, look at Burnie!  Probably because there’s so many fucking people around right now, and he doesn’t want you getting lost!  You’re our secret little weapon after all!,” he exclaimed, ruffling the lad’s hair.  

Giggling, Gavin pushed his hand off.  “Stop that, we’re watching movies, it’s RUDE!,” he shouted.

“You were the one talking!,” Michael shot back, giving him a mocking glare and sticking his tongue out.  

“A touching moment to be sure,” Ryan said.

The two men jumped at the sound of his voice, and both turned to see his black outline in the light.

Michael’s eyes narrowed, taking in the sight around him.  Three or four other men were surrounding him, wearing Dallas uniforms.

“You guys aren’t supposed to be here,” Michael said, standing up and shielding Gavin’s body with his own.  Though his white t-shirt wasn’t much of a defense against the automatic rifles that Ryan’s men had.

“I’ve taken command, and placed Mr. Burns under arrest.  You will answer to me now, Mr. Jones, and I want the child in my custody immediately,” Ryan said, rather bluntly.


	12. Effortless

> _History will always say it was the Battle of Atlanta that changed the outcome of the zombie war in America’s favor.  Then again, that was the first time the public ever saw actual military CDC combat using the new RB serum coated weapons.  They missed the bigger fight that happened in the outskirts of Texas, which gave the CDC military the power it needed to destroy the threat of the Lost once and for all._
> 
> _Thinking back, the “turning point” was probably the day that Commander Ramsey and a small group of soldiers escaped one of the strongest generals the United States ever had the pleasure of working with.  Because it was after that day that the first step towards the “truth” could be taken._
> 
> _-Loveless ; Chapter 12_

+

 

> _“Plan?  Oh, you mean when I got myself and the Austin 7 out of our base?  Err…  Well, you see…  Things went REALLY fast during that time, and it wasn’t like I had time to really think of a “plan” so to speak.  Nah, instead I just sort of went with my gut and natural training.  That’s better than a plan, right?” - Geoff Ramsey_

++++

 

Michael shielded Gavin behind him.  The child was already trembling by the harsh presence the soldiers exuded, only fueled by their MANY firearms.  He gritted through his own fears.  “Like HELL are you taking him into custody you creepazoid,” he yelled.

Gavin shook his head and crammed himself under Michael’s shirt.  “NO!  I don’t wanna go!” he shouted.  Michael comforted the child and hugged him tightly.

Sighing, Ryan signaled in their direction.  “Take Mr. Jones to lockup with Mr. Burns.  Get the little one on the first transport back to Atlanta.  We’ll need to have our top analysts look him over VERY carefully,” he said in a dry, clinical tone.  There was an unsoundness about his tone, as though his words were forced and rehearsed.

Ryan’s men made their way towards Michael and Gavin, with their weapons raised.  There was a no-nonsense tone about them, and Michael could only step backwards and back the two of them into a wall.  Like Ryan, none of them seemed too thrilled about their orders.

“Sh… Shit,” Michael mumbled.  

Time seemed to stand still as the world crumbled in on Michael Jones.

“Men, stop,” Ryan ordered.

All of the soldiers, Michael included, stopped immediately.  Turning around, they faced their commander for confirmation.

Standing there was Ryan, naturally, though the more pressing matter was the fact that Commander Ramsey had a gun to his head.  Behind Geoff was four other soldiers.  Kerry, Miles, Lindsay and Ray were waiting with guns pointed at Ryan as well.

“Jones, Free, get over here,” Geoff ordered, nodding in their direction.  He quickly turned to the Dallas soldiers.  “You even move an INCH and your commander’s brains are going to be blown out,” he shouted menacingly.  Geoff’s hand was shaking anxiously, hovering over the trigger painfully.  

While Michael lifted up Gavin and moved to join his comrades, Ryan laughed.  “You really think you can exit this facility?  Where on earth do you think you can go, hmm?  As soon as you leave, a nationwide bolo will be out on your heads.  You’ll all be tried for desertion and executed for aiding the enemy combatants.  Just calm down, put down the weapons, give me the boy and we’ll forget all about this,” he offered.  

The lot of them seemed to second-guess themselves.

Ryan watched his men closely.  Unlike their normal selves, they lowered their weapons and seemed to nod in their commander’s direction.  The man chuckled.  ”Unless of course…  You had some sort of advanced weapon that wasn’t trackable like we had in Dallas.  And maybe had a head start…” he whispered quietly.

Geoff’s face twitched.  ”I uh…” he mumbled.

"Jenzen will help you.  Tell him the snow is ready to fall," Ryan whispered under his breath to Geoff’s ear.

Lindsay smiled like a devil.  “Thanks,” she said, kicking Ryan from behind and throwing him into their room.  Miles and Kerry slammed the door in place, while Ray pressed some buttons on the console next to the door.  

"Don’t worry, this should keep you out of trouble!" Lindsay exclaimed.

Ryan and the Dallas soldiers slammed themselves against the locked door and started screaming.  No sounds could exit the room.

Ray snorted.  “See, I told you soundproofing the Jones’ room would come in handy!  Not only do we not have to listen to their sex sounds, but it stops douchebags from screaming for help as well!” he exclaimed.

Slapping the back of Ray’s head with all the strength he could muster, Geoff glared at him.  “No time for jokes you fucking pathetic SCUM!  We’re getting out of here NOW!  Run ahead and get the transport ready.  Jones, you suit up and get Gavin strapped in.  The rest of you guard this door and make sure nobody notices the commander,” he yelled, as all of them began running to their designated locations.  Geoff also made his way back in the direction they had come from.

“Where you goin’ boss?” Ray asked.

Geoff rolled his eyes.  “Gotta get someone else before we go any further!” he yelled.

+

Prepping the mobile armored transport they’d driven back from Dallas in hadn’t taken long.  The Dallas people were surprisingly good about their technology being constantly updated and ready to leave at a moment’s notice.  Ray had it fueled, fired up and stocked with supplies in less than half an hour.  By the time he started loading up firearms and additional Trinity Gear parts in the rear cargo hatch, the rest of the team began to rush into the makeshift parking garage that stored their transports.  

Miles and Kerry were the first to show up, in full Trinity Gear and fully stocked with huge packs of supplies and armament.  They both began helping Ray stuff the vehicle with as much as they could all three carry.

Michael and Gavin came next with Lindsay close behind.  The three of them loaded up in the truck immediately, not bothering to assist in any measured manner.  Though based on the white boxes they were carrying, it was obvious they were packing up the medical supplies.

The last three to join them was the most surprising of all.  Ray’s jaw dropped as they jogged out of the door.  

Geoff, naturally, was leading the pack with a handful of what appeared to be military reports and a huge-ass map.  Behind him was Caiti, carrying what appeared to be a metallic case of some kind that was half the size of her body.  While neither of those surprised him, what DID surprise him was their third guest.

“No way…  HE’S coming!?” Ray shouted angrily.

Huffing and puffing, a thin pale male with small glasses and curled brown hair was right behind them.  Emblazoned on his chest was the Dallas CDC symbol, barely visible from the laptop computers he was carrying behind him.  He couldn’t be more than a day or two over eighteen, barely enough to even be in the army’s tactical corps.

Geoff threw Caiti and the strange youth into the mobile unit and shot Ray an angry glare.  “His name is Kdin, he’s Ryan’s top researcher from the Dallas branch, and we need someone with brains where we’re going.  You can trust him, I promise,” he said as he joined the three men in loading up the storage bins.

Within just a few moments of everyone arriving, bright red alarms began sounding all over the base.

“Shit, get in!” Geoff ordered, slamming the hatch of the storage region.  Miles and Kerry flung themselves on top of the mobile unit with their trinity gear, while Geoff and Ray hopping inside the machine.  Once inside, Geoff threw a look to Lindsay, who was sat at the cockpit.  “GO!  Miles and Kerry will make sure we don’t take mortar fire!” he shouted.

Saluting her superior officer, Lindsay began typing away at the primary console and bringing the machine to life.  

Not bothering to wait for the metallic gate doors to open, Lindsay rammed through them and into the main grounds of the base.  Several squads were already assembling on the grounds, with various weapons drawn.

Geoff pressed the speaker buttons.  “THIS IS COMMANDER RAMSEY, AND I ORDER THE AUSTIN AND DALLAS BRANCHES TO EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!  THIS IS NOT A DRILL, I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!  RETREAT TO THE SAFE ZONE IN BRENHAM AND CALL FOR ARMY TRANSPORT!  I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!  WE ARE EVACUATING THE STATE OF TEXAS!” he shouted.

The words alone had done the job that not even a gun to the temple could do.  It struck fear in the troops’ hearts.  Evacuation orders could only mean one thing.  The Lost were coming and they would soon be overrun.  

While that wasn’t the truth, it was a far better alternative than blasting through their comrades or getting them involved in their traitorous acts.  

The Austin Branch was quickly enveloped in chaos.  Soldiers began gearing up, grabbing civilians, and completely ignoring as the three ton tank escaped through the side exit and in the opposite direction of the evacuation route.  

+

Travel was slow, steady, and monotonous.  Checking behind them with constant scans and visual inspections, all the members inside the tank kept very quiet.  Only the occasional clacking of keyboards or notifications from the computer systems.broke the creepy silence.  

Only when the sun began set and the vehicle was parked underneath an old overpass did Kdin finally clear his throat.  

“So…  Umm, not to be rude or anything, but…  Could someone please tell me where I’m being taken to?” he asked.

Geoff turned to everyone standing behind him.  Distraught expressions, confused glares and slight whimpering from Gavin begged for answers.  He sighed.

“We’re going to Maro Labs, where Burnie believes we might be able to find the truth behind The Lost,” he explained, turning to Gavin.  “And…  Where Gavin was created,” he said.

Michael stepped forward instantly.  “Wait, created?!” he asked bitterly.

Taking his seat at the top of the table that took a majority of the space in the mobile unit, Geoff sighed and slid a binder towards Michael.  “A report from Commander Diane Maro.  It explains the process by which the Lost could be theoretically contained.  Two types of modified human blood that could be used together.  A blue blood type that would attract the Lost in large numbers by scent and taste.  Then there is a white blood type that could issue commands to the Lost through short range commands.  Using these two types, Lost could be gathered en masse and controlled like puppets.  In theory, Maro wanted to use this to cause the Lost to self-destruct.  In practical terms, however?” he asked rhetorically.

Kdin looked away.  “The Lost could be controlled, like an army of undead soldiers capable of waging total war and constantly adding to their arsenal.  A tool of worldwide devastation, if it were to fall in the wrong hands,” he explained.

Michael shook his head.  “Wait, what does this have to do with Gavin?!” he yelled.

Turning to the child, Geoff’s glare lightened slightly.  “Gavin has the blue blood type.  Assuming Commander Maro’s report is accurate…  When she was pregnant with her first child, she implanted the genetic markers for the blue blood type in the fetus.  After the child was born, he was quickly stolen by his father and taken into the dead zones to keep him safe from the clutches of the government,” he explained.

Hitching his breath, Michael turned to Gavin.  He recalled the child saying how his father had wanted to keep the child away from “the bad people”.  

“Michael,” Geoff said, snapping the soldier out of it.

He jumped, but quickly turned back to his Commander.  

“The father’s name was Gregory Free,” Geoff explained coldly.

All eyes went straight to Gavin.  All except one.  Kdin’s eyes stayed away from the child at all costs.  Looking down at his computer system, lines of extensive genetic coding was scrolling past his eyes.  The top read “Operation Snowfall”.


	13. Regretless

> **Humans always have regrets.**
> 
> **My father regretted not marrying my mother sooner.**
> 
> **My mother regretted joining the army almost immediately after enlisting.**
> 
> **My uncle regretted not going back after his wife and child when their house was attacked by the Lost.**
> 
> **My other uncle regretted not letting my first uncle go back in after his wife and child.**
> 
> **My aunt regretted not bringing her boyfriend with her when we escaped Austin.**
> 
> **Me?**
> 
> **I regret not being braver when the world needed me the most.  I regret crying and begging them not to use me.  If I could go back in time and do it all over again?**
> 
> **…**
> 
> **Oh, who are we kidding, I’d probably bawl like a baby again.**

 

+

 

> _**I might have been a TAD insensitive with Gavin at first.  Then again, I’d spent my whole life doing research on rats and rabbits.  I’d never had to deal with a human subject before. How was I supposed to know people don’t like being poked and prodded?!” - Kdin Jenzen** _

 

+

 

In the back room of the Mobile Transportation cargo hatch, a makeshift table had been setup in the corner alongside the plethora of supplies the soldiers had brought with them.  

Gavin was laid out on it, shirtless and kicking as hard as he could.  

“NO NO NO!  I DON’T WANNA!” he shouted.  

Michael held the child against the table, with Lindsay quickly holding his feet.

“Gavin, just hang in there a little more buddy.  Kdin needs just a little more blood and he’ll be done!” Michael said, putting on a weak smile.

Pulling out yet ANOTHER large needle attached to a blood bag, Kdin put the needle right next to the inside of Gavin’s elbow.  He huffed as the child kept wriggling.  “Gavin, listen to me, if you keep moving I might tear a vein and it will REALLY hurt,” he said angrily.  

“KDIN!” Lindsay yelled as Gavin started crying loudly.

Releasing Gavin, Michael let the child scramble into his arms.  Half a dozen injection points were covering Gavin’s back.  He glared angrily at Kdin.  “That’ll be enough for today, work with what you’ve got,” he said loudly.

Kdin rolled his eyes.  “Fine.  We’ve been at this for five days now and he cries more quickly every day.  The less blood I have, the more I have to prick tomorrow!” he exclaimed.  Taking several samples of blood back to the main area of the transport unit, Kdin left the three of them.  

Gavin sniffed loudly and wrung his hands around Michael’s neck as tightly as he could.  

Michael gently rubbed Gavin’s sore back.  “Thanks bud…  Thanks for putting up with all this, I know it hurts, but it’ll really help us out to stop the monsters,” he explained.

The child only buried his head deeper into Michael’s chest.  “Michael…  I’m scared…  I’m really really scared…  I don’t want that scary man hurting me anymore!” he yelled.  

Lindsay made her way to Michael and Gavin’s side.  She rubbed his head gently.  “Don’t worry Gavin, Kdin is our friend!  He’s doing really important stuff to help us beat the monsters, and you’re the only person we can count on!  Can you be a brave boy for us just a little longer?” she asked sweetly.  

When the child wasn’t taking the bait, Lindsay leaned into his ear.  “You know Gavin, Michaels a scaredy cat when it comes to needles too.  I bet if you showed how tough you were, even HE would be impressed,” she whispered, while winking in Michael’s direction.

Gavin thought momentarily, wiped away his tears and finally nodded reluctantly.  “Y…  Yeah.  I…  I’ll be good!” he exclaimed.  His words were weak, yet held a minute trace of strength within them.  

Michael chuckled.  “Welp, you’ve got me beat then,” he said, as the three of them made their way back to the main living area.  

 

+

 

Clacking away at his keyboard, Kdin was deaf to the discussion going on around him.  

Geoff, who had turned the main living area into a makeshift central ops center, pointed at a map of what used to be pre-war Texas.  A bright red pin signaled where they had stopped for the evening, while a circled building far to the west seemed to be their destination.

“We’re still about three days away from the Maro Labs, assuming that we don’t have any major issues.  Once we get there, our main objective will be fairly simple.  We infiltrate and get as much data as we can on the white blood type for Kdin, which is why I brought Caiti along to act as our tech specialist.  Miles and Kerry will act as her bodyguards, while Michael, Gavin and I will act as a diversion for any spare Lost that might be inside the facility.  After that?  Well…  I suppose that’s all we’ve really got planned for now,” he explained.

Ray rose his hand immediately.  “Question!  How come the Dallas Corps had not infiltrated this already?  I mean, if it’s such a beacon of information, it seems weird to have waited this long,” he asked.

All eyes turned to Kdin, who was staring intently at his machine.  “Frankly because we didn’t have the manpower to get there.  We’re like any other branch of the military, meaning we’re stretched to our breaking points most days.  To even spare a few soldiers to investigate the lab would have been a gross waste of resources.  Besides, we honestly thought we could make do with what we had at the main Dallas branch,” he replied.

“Are there gonna be a lot of monsters?” Gavin asked meekly.  In a oversized hoodie he’d borrowed from Michael, the child was curled up in it like a weak kitten.

Kdin shrugged.  “We’re getting pretty far west of the front line.  Even for a dead zone, there shouldn’t be too many Lost to worry about.  Though the second your blood hits the air, every Lost in a ten mile radius is going to come running,” he said darkly.

After Lindsay threw a spare can of beans at Kdin’s head, Gavin retreated inside the safety of his large hood.  

Politely enough, Caiti rose her hand.  “Not to interrupt, but what exactly is the point of all of this?  Wasn’t the whole idea of keeping Gavin from Ryan’s crew that this information was too dangerous to utilize?  Yet we’re going after it?” she asked.  

Geoff huffed.  “Perhaps so…  But maybe Maro’s data could lead us in a different path.  She was a brilliant scientist who could have done anything if we hadn’t killed her.  Besides, we’ve got a great head start already having Gavin here with us.  Then there’s Kdin, who has the skills we need to move forward,” he replied.

“So we won’t use it?  Even if it might stop the Lost?!  Even if we break this white blood bullshit, we wouldn’t use it?!” Miles exclaimed angrily..

The group turned to Miles, and spotted his reddening face.  

Geoff nodded.  “That’s right.  It’s too much power for one person to hold.  Controlling the monsters called the Lost?  Impossible.  Absolutely impossible, we can’t even think about it,” he replied.  Stepping forward, he faced Miles with the fury of his body and  dark glare in his eyes.  “The Lost MUST be destroyed at all costs.  Not a single one can be left alive!  Do you understand?!” he shouted.  

Reluctantly, Miles nodded.  “Yes sir,” he replied.  Miles backed down immediately, though folded his arms angrily.  

The room got very quiet very quickly.  Tension was thick, and everyone saw that conflicting opinions were everywhere.  Miles and Kerry bitterly glared at Geoff.  Geoff, Caiti and Ray seemed to form their own alliance.  

All the while, Michael and Lindsay clung tightly to Gavin.  

Kdin sighed.  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  We’re still a very long ways away from solving this problem one way or another.  Even if the white blood type is sitting to wait when we get to Maro labs, it would take a large amount of time to utilize it properly.  So don’t fight before its really necessary,” he said.  There was a seriousness in his tone.  Though he gulped as a bright green checkmark seemed to mark some sort of success on his machine.  

 

+

 

Michael sighed loudly.  Unlike Gavin or lindsay who had the luxury of sleeping bags, the cold metal floor was his only comfort that evening.  Like most nights since their escape, Gavin had curled up with one of the soldiers and held on for dear life.  

Standing up, Michael stretched out and glanced around him.  Kdin, Miles, Kerry, Ray, Caiti, Lindsay and Gavin were all knocked out asleep.  Their daily duties of scavenging to resupply their minimal stock had left them all relatively exhausted, Michael’s self included.  

Though one face was surprisingly missing.  Commander Geoff, unlike his usual snoring self, was off in the corner and glaring into a porthole that gave a perfect view of the full moon raised up outside them.

Michael wrapped himself in a blanket and quietly tiptoed around the sleeping bags that occupied most of the main floor.  He reaches Geoff, and noticed the man’s faraway look.  On the outside, he looked the same.  His eyes, however, told a different story completely.  They were vacant, lifeless, and focused somewhere inside the man’s head.

“Need something?” Geoff asked, with the same moody glare he always had.  He turned around with his authoritative stare that instinctively straightened Michael’s spine.

Michael shook his head.  “Uh, no…  Sorry, I don’t mean to be  bother, I just…” he mumbled, trying to find some strength in his words.  With as much courage as he could muster, he took a deep breath and faced the commander’s icy stare.  “Well, I guess I wanted to thank you.  For saving me and Gavin, I mean.  What possessed you anyway?  I’ve never known you to disobey a direct order!” he exclaimed.

Geoff scoffed.  “Survival instinct.  Revenge.  Somewhere in between there,” he explained.

With a tilt of the head and a raised eyebrow, Geoff chuckled.  “Sorry, I forget you’re that stinking young,” he replied.  Taking a deep breath, Geoff turned his gaze back to the full moon.  “I love our country, but I hate our government with a white hot passion.  Speaking frankly, the second I heard that Gavin might be the key to controlling the lost, I KNEW I couldn’t let that power fall in the government’s hands.  Those bastards have no heart and no common sense,” he replied bitterly.

“What do you mean?” Michael asked curiously.  

Geoff ran his hand through his hair  “You ever hear about the Day of Death in Austin?  The day that the Lost overran the city and we had to move back our front line?” he asked.

Michael nodded.  “Of course.  Everyone remembers that day.  It was a fucking nightmare, about half of the city’s population was decimated.  Nobody expected a full fledged outbreak to happen,” he replied.

Turning around and, Geoff faced Michael squarely in the face.  “It was expected.  At least three days before the attack, all key government personnel and class A military families were evacuated.  Anyone B class or lower, like myself, was left in Austin without any warning,” he replied.

Michael’s stomach did a backflip.  “W…  What?” he asked.

Geoff’s eyes went elsewhere.  “We were bait.  The whole city was used as a scapegoat to give the retreating army time to evacuate and reach a safe distance.  All those lives meant nothing to them.  My wife, my daughter?  My friends?  None of them mattered in the long run.  They weren’t key to the survival of our country and were “sacrificed” for the cause.  I watched those fuckers come in and SWARM my house.  My dog and cat were lunch in half a second for those things.  My wife and daughter got bit and struggled to get away from them, screaming for me to help them.  My wife’s arm was bitten in half, and her face was missing half of its muscle structure.  Commander Burns had to pull me out of my own home and stop me from giving up my whole life.  When I got thrown outside it was unregistered chaos all around us.  The same thing that happened to me was happening to every other family in that city.  It was…  It was hell on earth,” he explained.   

Unable to decipher the information, all Michael could do is take a seat closest to him.  

“W..  Why would they do that?” Michael asked.

Sighing, Geoff shook his head.  “In the long run, they probably made the smartest decision possible.  An entire fleeing city of several hundred thousand would stretch their resources.  It was the militaristically correct move,” he mumbled.

Michael shot back up in an instant.  “WHAT?!  How can you say that?!” he yelled.

Geoff chuckled.  “Did you my dad was a Class A commander back when we still had Nevada under our control?  He was almost a general, and designated as a key part in the war effort.  When Nevada was going to fall, my father’s connections got myself and the rest of my family out of there in time.  For all intents and purposes, what comes around goes around I guess.  On day I’m saved, and the next day I’m expendable.  THat’s just how the world works..” he replied lifelessly.  Huffing, he folded his arms.  “I told myself that for years.  I…  I made myself believe that.  It was the only way I was going to be able to get on with my life…” Geoff said.

Michael stood quietly and watched as tears ran down Geoff’s stoic face.  Unmoving, in the same leadership type stance he always had, it was a remarkable sight to behold any weakness in him.  “I…  I know what they’d do with the Lost.  They’d make the right military decisions with them.   Force them to fight with each other and reclaim lost territory.  Use them as a workforce and labor pool.  Then…  When we rejoined the rest of the world, they’d be used as a weapon of mass fear and intimidation,” he replied.  Geoff wiped his tears and turned back to Michael.  “I won’t give them the chance to make the right military decision.  We can find another way, I know it.  We WILL find another way.  That’s all there is to it,” he replied.  Walking away from Michael and towards the cargo hatch, Geoff stopped beside Lindsay and Gavin’s sleeping bodies.  Faced away from Michael, he hid a smile.  

“That, and…  You remind me of Hope, my little girl.  She was daddy’s brave soldier, just like you…  I guess that if she’d grown up…  She could have been a lot like you,” Geoff thought to himself, chuckling as Gavin smiled sweetly in the middle of a dream.  

 

+

 

To:  R_Haywood@CDC.GOV

From:  001@CDC.Gov

Subject:  <Redacted for Lack of Security Clearance>

 

Commander Haywood, you are under direct orders to capture Gavin Free and bring him back to the diagnostic lab in Atlanta.  Use any tools at your disposal, and you have authorization to kill any who get in your way.  Take the remaining soldiers from the Dallas and Austin Branches under your authority.  We will be sending you every mobile unit we can spare from the front lines.  

 

Do not fail us.  The fate of our nation depends on it.

 

-001


	14. Hapless

_In the 1980’s, during the first decade of the war against the Spawn, most of the medical and research community were given carte blanche in their experimentations._

_Survivors after the war, mostly assistants and nurses, came out and shared stories of the many atrocities._

_In one lab in northern Michigan, 20 convicted criminals were strapped into chairs and had their skulls removed in a sterile environment.  Researchers then attached captured Spawn to the exposed brains of the criminals and video taped the transformation process.  While the people were still alive, scentists peeled back their skin to watch as the bone and muscle structures were eaten away.  The nurse who told this story would say that she sleeps no more than three hours a night, unable to forget the sight._

_Another such story, out of northern Arkansas, had an entire house blocked off and quarentined.  The military were always stationed around it, and many people wondered what was happening inside.  Thanks to a lead assistant, the world found out that researchers told a family it was an experimental safe house, and wanted them to live within it.  What they didn’t know was that an infected lost was already in the house.  So this family of four, including an infant child and a teenager, tried to fight off a near-indestructible Lost.  The father died instantly, and soon it became a 2 V 3 situation.  The mother locked the children into the kitchen (where food supplies would be delivered), and used every ounce of her strength to barricade the doors.  After weeks of pleading and begging to a camera that was recording everything they did, and realizing that the military were not there to save them, the mother did the only thing she could.  She euthanize her children and did the same thing to herself.  A new family replaced them a week later, and the research into the psychosis of Lost attacks would soon become circulated throughout the entire nation._

_Needless to say, humanity soon found themselves facing an even darker threat than the Spawn and the Lost combined._

_Dr. Aria Luna, a massive researcher and potentially the leading participant in Spawn research, brought these kinds of stories to life.  Working with the Atlanta CDC, who had been given military status, research that involved non-infected humans had been banned completely, no exceptions existed._

_Entire labs were destroyed and razed to the ground.  Trials were had, and many scientiests were put to death._

_In that moment of human courage, the world’s best and brightest were gone in the span of a year._

_This process continued into the modern days.  Every couple of years a new researcher would have “had enough” and break the human testing law._

_The last to pass on as a violation of said law, was Dr. Diane Maro, after giving birth to her son in federal prison.  She was the fiance of Commander Free, one of the most talented Manuever Gear specialists that ever lived._

_The whereabouts of both Commander Free and his unnamed son were unknown for decades.  Many speculated that the two went into hiding to avoid press._

_Others believed that Diane Maro’s child held the key to her research, given the odd reports circulating about her odd birth._

_I can testify that the latter was indeed true._

_Loveless ; Chapter 14_

_+++++_

_I tried to tell them going into the spooky lab would be a mistake!  I told them!  But do they listen to me?  NO._

_I mean, sure, it was like the thing that saved the world, but it broke our hearts into a thousand pieces in the process._

_-LIndsay Jones_

_+++++_

Reaching their destination, Maro labs, hadn’t been an easy feat.  Lost were crawling over the region in a lumped up mess.  Miles and Kerry had spent the better part of a week clearing the path out for their mobile defense unit.  Even with their armor, supplies and high end weaponry, getting out of their vehicle would be impossible if swarmed.

Once the path was cleared, the remnants of the Austin base could finally park just outside the abandoned lot.  They drove over a perfectly good Jeep, flattening it to the ground.

Michael glanced outside the porthole wth Gavin just to his side.  Maro labs was a huge building, the size of a Hospital, and taped around with hazard ribbons.  The windows were blocked off with wood, and even a few military tanks and cycles were still parked around the region.

"We’re here.  Time to decide on a investigation party," Geoff commanded.

Michael turned back to the rest of the Austin remnants.  Many of them had nervous faces, or a less than thrilled expression.

Geoff pointed to Miles and Kerry.  ”I want both of you on the outside and call us if there are any Lost hordes coming this way.  Gavin’s scent might draw them closer,” he ordered.

Both men nodded, cocking their rifles.

Geoff then nodded towards Caiti.  ”Stay here.  in case things go south, we’ll need our medical specialist to take care of survivors.  Besides, you don’t have any combat training,” he explained.

"Yay!  I live to care another day!" Caiti replied, saluting with a grin.

Geoff moved on to Lindsay, Michael, and Kdin.  ”You three will take the lead.  Lindsay and Michael, I want you two protecting Kdin while he gets samples.  Gavin will go with me.  I get the feeling that he’s the key to a lot of this, and I might need him.  If any of us get a lead or find something, we contact each other and meet back up, got it?” he ordered.

Ray rose his hand up.  ”Yeah, what about ME?!” he asked irritatingly.

Sighing, Geoff shook his head.  ”You’re the only one here who knows how to drive this dumbass tank.  You stay here, and don’t leave the vehicle under any circumstances!” he exclaimed.

"Fine," Ray scoffed angrily.

Without much more words being shared, the soldiers crack open the hatch and make their way out and into the hot sun of the early afternoon.

+++++

Maro labs was still connected to electricity, as Michael’s team was quick to find out.  An odd situation, given that power lines had been down for decades in the region.  So only government-paid generators could possibly be powering the lab.  

Michael and Lindsay’s pistols were drawn as they kicked open the door to the room labeled “Blood Lab”.  Laser sights trailed over the area, and after  few minutes, both could announce that the room was cleared.

Kdin stepped in, and made his way to the mess of a lab table.  Most of the paperwork was in ashes, with empty gas tanks on the floor.

"Damn it.  The cleanup squad really fucked this place over…  Should have known they’d do this.  Of course if they’d kill Maro they’d torch her research as well," Kdin sighed, picking up the crumbling remains of a binder and research documents.  

Michael watches the door, while Lindsay inspects all of the cabinents.  Empty, every last one of them.

"Damn.  Kdin, what do you want me to find?" Lindsay asked hastily.

The researcher shook his head.  ”I have no idea..  Books, documents, anything that goes into detail on the blood types she developed.  Even a little scrap of information can help me generate the second type,” Kdin responded, as he tore open countless drawers around the lab.

Lindsay moved to a bookcase.  Unlike the rest, it was untouched.  Though considering the contents were children’s books or classical stories, it was surprising.

"What’s that stuff?" Kdin asked, pulling up half a sheet of paper that hadn’t been completely torched.

Smling, Lindsay began going through the book selection.  ”Kid books and some classics.  Wow, they’ve got everything.  Dickens, Jane Austen, and…  OOH!  It’s Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein!  They talked about this book when I was in school, but could never find a copy.  I do believe I’ll just take this, and-” she said, as she pulled the book away.  Immediately as she did, the bookcase began to shake.

Lindsay yelps, and jumps away from the shelves.  Moving to one side, the shelves gave way to a hidden staircase.  The electricity illuminating the staircase was flickering on and off.

"Well shit!  That’s not spooky at all!" Lindsay mumbled.

Michael and Kdin joined her, and the three stared at the new entrance.

"Lindsay, you stay here and watch the entrance.  You’re a better shot than me with these pistols, I can’t handle the recoil since it’s not like a crossbow.  Kdin and I will go down," Michael offered.

"God with me!  Have fun!" Lindsay said, drawing her pistol and moving to the front door that Michael had been gauding earlier.  

Kdin turned to Michael.  ”Do I have to?” he asked, like a whining child.

Grabbing Kdin by the scruff of his uniform, Michael began dragging Kdin down the staircase.  

Not a long staircase, it took roughly two to three minutes to go down the entirety of it.  They both reached a plain wooden door.  

Michael slowly reaches for the knob and pulls the door open.  A low green light was pusling from inside.

"Get behind me," Michael orderered.

Obeying, Kdin hid behind the soldier and both of them entered the green room.  

Micheal dropped his gun almost instantly.

"My God… Michael mumbled, covering his mouth out of horror.

Even in the pitch black and barely illuminated area, it was easy to tell that the room was filled with a dozen glass tubes field with identical copies of Gavin.  Tubes were being shoved into his body, and red sores covered the entry wounds.  A black, goopy fluid was being poured into them, out of hanging glass case filled with what looked like hundreds of Spawn creatures.  The worst scene of all was the tube in their mouths.  A different kind of liquid, a pearl-white liquid, was being fed to them, out of case next to the Spawn.  A different kind of Spawn blob was inside of it.  A white version, with bright red eyes.

"Fuck…  Fuckfuckfuck…" Kdin said, stumbling backwards and falling to his ass.  "Oh fuckfuckfuck..  I did NOT sign up for this shit, I SO did not sign up for this shit," he screeched.

After picking up his pistol, Michael shot forward to inspect the tubes.  He turned back to Kdin.  ”What are these things?  They look just like Gavin!” he said darkly.  

Trembling like a scared rabbit, Kdin turned away, dry heaving into the floor.

"H…  H…  Human fusion genetic experimentation…  They’re…  they’re…  They’re fushing human geneics with Spawn genetics.  They…  They made new DNA and made these bastards into human/spawn things…  I..  Oh God…  They’ve been BREEDING these," Kdin stammered, vomiting loudly.

Michael shook his head and began pacing around the lab.  He inspected each tube, all of them the eact same.  Numbered numerically from XII to II, they were all the same age and had the same body type as Gavin.  

"So what, these are clones of Gavin?  Why would th…" Michael asked, as he reached the final tube, hidden at the very back of the corner.  

inside of it was not a child Gavin as the rest of them.  It was a full grown man, naked and floating in the green fluid.  A huge bite mark was on his shoulder, pustulating with black infectivity.  like the rest, the man was filled with tubes, and being fed the white goop.  

"I" was over the tube, signifing the first of the series.  Unlike the rest of the copies, another line was engraved under the number.  "Gavin Free, My son, My life, and a brave soldier that fought and "died" for his country"

"MICHAEL!" Kdin screamed.  Glancing away, Michael spotted Kdin at the end of the second row of tubes he hadn’t gotten to yet.  Unlike the rest, it was empty.  Tubes were hanging overhead, waiting to be placed into someone.  "XIII" was engraved at the top.  A folder was at the floor, wide open.

Gavin’s portrait was there, wearing the red cap he’d been wearing when Michael found him.  The Gavin HE knew.  The Gavin that was upstairs.

Kdin was trembling again.  ”I…  I don’t think these are clones of Gavin…  I…  I think..” he mumbled.

Michael fell to his knees.  ”Gavin’s a clone.  Gavin’s a…  A…  An experiment,” he realized, as an icy pit formed in his stomach.

+++++

The investigation of the personelle offices hadn’t been as successful for Geoff.  Gavin was holding his hand tightly, trying to stay quiet and out of the way.  

Having saved the best for last, Geoff entered the bright red door labeled “Maro”.  

"Take a seat while I look," Geoff ordered, pointing Gavin to the lush chair next to the main desk.  While the child plopped down, Geoff made quick work of looking through Dr. Maro’s desk.  

Immediately, one item in particular caught his attention.  A solid pink book with “Diary” written over the cover.

Geoff picked up the diary, and flipped through the pages, hoping for some guidance on where to look.  He went to the longer entries, as many of the days were one to two sentences long.

_Day 23 :  The Guardian Force project has begun.  Our goal is to develop an “anti-spawn” biological weapon, in our secret area under the lab, and away from the CDC’s prying eyes.  Using “The Subject”, a soldier who was in the early stages of infectivity, we will be cloning his infected body and impregnating women with eggs pre-made to ensure he is reborn as he is now.  Assuming our research is correct, the human developmental cycle can alter the DNA of infected spawn victims.  We tried to cure the Spawn with this means, but eventually ended in a dead end.  But, if a person was born with a resistance to the Spawn’s influence?  Then, we’ve got a different story.  Instead of being infected, the people with resistances could instead THEMSELVES infect the Spawn.  We re-write the food chain.  We create our own Human Spawn, and fight back.  Once fully developed, we can even go so far as to control the Human Spawn.  Control then by our leader of the Gaurdian Forces.  My son, “The Subject”, Gavin Free.  Once made into our weapons, and once we’ve created the perfect subject, we will force the others into becoming the same as the perfect subject.  Their genetics will become their own.  Mommy will see you soon again._

Geoff lost his breath, hitching as he continued to flip through the pages.

_Day 203:  GF 12 has failed.  I have placed him into statis with the rest of his brothers.  It was cruel to see him cry as I put the tubes into him, and watch him choke as he was filled up with Spawn blood and fed the White Genetic Formula, but…  It’s the only way to keep him alive at this point.  I can’t just let him die.  He doesn’t deserve that fate.  Besides, once I create the perfect specimen, he’ll be back in my arms again.  All my children will be..  All of my beautiful little babies will be back with their mommy again._

_Day 434:  The planning for GF 13 has been completed.  With the CDC up my ass, there’s no way we’ll be able to hide a pregnant woman in our office.  Instead, I’ve made a deal with Commander Free.  We’ve already announced to the world that we’re finally going to try and have another son after all these years.  Next week, I’ll put the genetic material inside myself.  Should we be caught, the military won’t execute me until after my child is born.  At least then, my husband will have a chance at completing the Guardian Force project.  If the child is successful, he can be kept in the field.  The Spawn will be drawn to him, and want to feast on him.  The second they do, our project will be complete._

"Hey Geoff?" Gavin asked quietly.

Geoff glanced up, staring into Gavin’s innocent eyes.  The child was holding up a photograph that had been on the office desk.

"That’s my daddy!" Gavin said eagerly, pointing on the end.

Gavin was holding up a photograph.  Doctor Maro, Commander Free, and an unidentified teenage male in CDC maneuver gear was hugging in between them.  

"Gavin’s Graduation" was labeled underneath it.


	15. Voiceless

> _Adoption was common during the Lost wars. The populace, faced with horrible despair and with possible Armageddon knocking at their door, not many parents wanted to bring children into the world that they lived in. The few children who were born, however, sometimes were faced with homelessness as their parents passed away due to infection or minor diseases. Then there was of course, the parents who would commit suicide from lost hope, or even some just went to sleep and never woke up._
> 
> _Children, however, were not as bad off as many would think, even without a home._
> 
> _The military were always willing to take in children and train them from a very young age. In fact 40% of the main Armed Forces were composed of war orphans who grew up watching the world around them crumble into dust. Upon turning 18, many of them would go to the front line of the war to clear out the zombie hordes and keep their friends and army families safe._
> 
> _Though at 16, many of them chose to enroll in military careers, or even going to the CDC Field for research._
> 
> _Children were the greatest resource during the war.  The military spent a good chunk of their resources to create the strongest generation possible.  The “Golden” Generation, they called them._
> 
> _So at the end of the day, parentage was a luxury. Even now in the postwar peace, most people never know who their birth parents were. Adoption is still a major source of child rearing. In fact 60% of the adults now adopting were in fact adopted during their childhood as well._
> 
> _The war took a lot away from us. The war took a lot away from a lot of people._
> 
> _The one thing it didn’t take away, however, was the fact that human love is unbreakable.  Even when faced with despair and loss, we were able to create new bonds and strive forward._
> 
> _Especially, when you’re talking about my family that I found._
> 
> _-Loveless Chapter 15_

+++++

All faces were downtrodden as they returned downstairs with Michael and Kdin. Geoff couldn’t speak adequetely, and instead was unusually quiet. Lindsay refused to look at the child, but also refused to let go of the child whenever she hugged him. Miles and Kerry were overly defensive around him, and always seemed to be watching him cautiously.  Ray tried to keep normalcy, but his faked grins told all.

As for Gavin? The child could not comprehend what was happening around him. He didn’t understand why so many of the adults he had come to know as his family were now ignoring him or avoiding him completely. Except of course for Michael, who refused to leave the child’s side ever since they had all gathered together.

Michael shielded the child’s ears as Miles finally took his seat in their makeshift circle.  The glow from the tubes had been covered by tarps the group had found upstairs in the storage area.

“So what do we do now?” he asked quietly.

Kdin shook his head.  “I have no idea.  I’m still trying to unscramble all the mess of research that Dr. Maro was doing. All I can say is that the kid we know as “Gavin” is the 13th experiment in her line.  She seemed to be attempting to clone her son for whatever reason. I assume it was to save his life by finding a cure. Maybe she even thought she could reincarnate her son with a clone and implant memories.  I’m not for certain. What I do know is that Gavin has had his genetics modified to make him a half human and half lost subject.  I can confirm that without a doubt,” he explained.

Geoff grunted, watching Gavin fidget nervously with his ears still covered..

“Just by looking at her diary, I can tell that Dr. Maro was a crazy woman, and her trigger was her son dying. She was obsessed with bringing her son Gavin back to life, or finding some way to cure him from the virus that was sweeping through him. She never actually refers to any of these little kids in the tubes is Gavin.  She always called them by their number. I don’t exactly understand why but I can assume she is trying to disassociate them with her son. But she does talk a lot about the experiments. In basic terms, all of this was Dr. Maro trying to find a way for the Lost to be controlled by her son if she was ever able to bring him back to life.   
Or if that failed, then perhaps one of the 13 subjects that she had created.  It was ALL about the altered genetics though, and finding the perfect balance between human and Lost.

Lindsay shivered.  “So then Gavin really is just a clone? He’s not a real boy?  He’s…  He’s not even human?” she asked cautiously.

Michael slams one of his fists against the desk he was sitting at.  Gavin jumped out of fear and whimpered quietly.

“Gavin go to the other room.  Kerry, you go with him,” Michael ordered.  

Doing as he was told Gavin, slowly walked out of the lab with Kerry.  He looked back at the spooky tubes with the people that looked a lot like him.  He was glad they hid them under the blankets.  He tried not to look at the soldiers, whose eyes were burning with fire.

When Gavin was out of the room, Michael stood up and faced the rest of his team. “Gavin is real, and don’t any of you fucking say ANY DIFFERENT!” he screeched.  

The group cringed in unison.

“He’s a real kid. I don’t care what the fuck you scientists might say about him, but he’s real!  He cries, he laughs, he bleeds, and he’s just like you and me!” Michael exclaimed.

Kdin chuckled and shook his head. “Actually Michael, he’s not human, he’s a new type of species. Gavin was created out of the test tube and created in a lab.  Even though he was given a human birth, we don’t even have the same DNA as him.  I’m not even sure if he could bear children.   Even worse, the kid’s blood is tainted lost virus.  I assume that if he were to actually bite someone, or if he were to exchange fluid like blood, he could turn someone else into lost. Though that is kind of what Dr. Maro was hoping-”

Before Kdin could really say anything else, Michael slammed him hard against the wall.

“Take it back!” Michael yelled.

Geoff pulled Michael off of Kdin and shook his head. “Now is not the time to be fighting Michae, and you know that.  I understand you’re frustrated, I am too, but listen to what he has to say okay?  This is our future on the line!” Geoff ordered

Michael reluctantly released Kdin, and allows the man to speak once more.

Breathing in and out slowly Kdin somehow managed to collect his thoughts. “As I was saying, what Dr. Maro was trying to do in the simplest form, and like Geoff said, is that she was trying to make a new species of Lost by cloning her son.  The idea behind that was to make a Lost capable of infecting other Lost and turning them to our control, while also giving back a bit of their humanity.  It was a long process that took MANY years.  She didn’t bring this to the government, out of fear that they’d use it as a weapon after the war to get revenge on the rest of the world.  Gavin is the last line of this experimentation.  Either he’s the key to all of Maro’s plan, or he’s not,” he explained.

Lindsay stood up from the floor at last and turned to face Kdkin. “So how do we know if Gavin really is the key or not?” she asked.

Kdin sighed loudly.

“It’s going to take me a lot of time and energy to try and trace back through Dr. Maro’s research. I’m just one guy, but if I can stay here in the main office, I should be able to work a little faster than if we were on the road.  Oh, and coffee if anyone can find any,” he replied.

Geoff nodded in agreement.  “Understood.  We stay here until we understand what Gavin is, and what Dr. Maro was trying to come up with, and how we can use this to end the lost crisis once and for all.  Is everyone okay with that?” he asked.

There weren’t many objections, though the looks were fairly exasperated.

Michael raised his hands.

“I do have one thing I want to ask,” he said.

All eyes turned the soldier.

Michael shut his yes.  “Nobody touches Gavin except Kdin if he really need something for testing.  That, and I don’t want anyone telling him what he is who he is or what he was. Gavin is still Gavin and I don’t care what some stupid diary or some stupid lab says. Gavin is still a kid.  That’s all I have to know,” he explained.

The room was fairly silent at the statement

Geoff reluctantly nodded.

“Fine.  We don’t have to tell the boy anything until it’s necessary. But should there come a time and we can use the boy towards our advantage, I’m afraid the needs of the many are going to have to outweigh the needs of the few.  Michael you’re a soldier, so you should know that better than anyone.

Cringing at the thought Michael slowly backed away from Geoff.  “Yeah I get that.  You don’t have to treat me like a kid,” he replied angrily.

Running up the staircase from the lab, Michael was soon gone from the rest of his team. Geoff rubbed the back of his head nervously. “I’m worried about Michael.  He was already way too close to this kid, to be honest.” Geoff turned to face Lindsay.  “Can you talk to your husband and make sure he’s alright?  I don’t need him losing his head out here. I understand we’ve all been through a lot together, but the fact of the matter is we still have a job to do,” he said plainly.

Standing up, Lindsay nodded at Geoff’s request. “Understood, I’ll go talk to him right now,” she said, bounding up the staircase quickly after her husband.

The rest of the team exited the lab with Lindsay, leaving only Kdin and Geoff behind.

Kdin looked up to the commander. “Have you told Michael about the method of infection that Gavin would have to do if he was the key? I mean, surely it was in the diary she wrote?” he asked.

Geoff didn’t reply. Instead he began pacing back-and-forth along the length of the lab. “Just do your job, and make sure Gavin’s actually the key before we tell him everything.”

-

The rest of the afternoon was spent fortifying the lab and creating a new living space. Once they were sure of their defenses been strong enough to withhold attacks, the team began making the place a little more “homey”.

Lindsay set up the cots and tables for the team’s relaxation periods, with Gavin assisting her. Although she kept a safe distance away from the boy, she couldn’t keep her eyes off of him.  She nearly began to cry on several occasions.

Ray began cooking dinner for them at night, utilizing an old bunsen burner he found and developed a making a makeshift cooking area The lab’s cafeteria was surprisingly well stocked with unperishable food.  After their long day, he began to re-hydrate an alarming number of foods. By the looks of things, the team would have plenty to eat for the first time in a very long time.

Miles and Kerry set out to create patrols and utilize some of their radio interfaces to tell if any enemies were approaching. Both men refused to turn their gun safeties off, and always seemed to have a reason to come check up on Lindsey and Gavin.

Michael was the worst of the all.  Refusing to help anyone, all he did was sit in the corner, and keeping his eyes firmly on Gavin. Anytime Miles or Kerry seemed to get a little too close to the child, he would stand up form a barrier between the two parties, making sure to put one hand on the boys shoulder.

Tensions were high.

Not the stupidest child in the world, Gavin immediately knew something was wrong with everyone. After several hours of the repeat performances, Gavin finally tugged on Michael’s shirt. “Michael how come everyone’s mad at me?”  he asked nervously.

Michael plastered on a fake smile like he’d always done whenever he needed to lie to a child.  That was in high demand theses days.  “Everything is fine Gavin, don’t worry we’re all just really tired and grumpy-butts,” he answered playfully.

Seemingly satisfied with that answer, he glanced around once more to confirm the situation. Quickly he turned back to Michael. “Hey Michael what was that scary stuff downstairs?  Everyone got grumpy after seeing those green goo men, “ he asked..

Michael tried to smile. “That was the stuff we came here to find.  The doctor lady we were looking for, remember?  Well, that was the experiments we were looking for. Don’t worry about them they’re not gonna hurt anyone I promise!  And they didn’t look THAT much like you,” he said dismissively.

The child nodded, fiddling with his hands.  “Hey Michael, how long are we going to stay here?” he asked.

“As long as it takes for Kdin to figure everything out. Probably a couple weeks, or maybe a month or more.  Just kind of depends on everything,” Michael answered.

He looked to Gavin, and noted that he really didn’t bother listening to most of the answers.  Gavin was distant, mumbling nervously, and seemed to be more talkative than normal.

“What do you REALLY want to ask me, you dummy?” Michael asked, ruffling the child’s hair.

Gavin sat down next to Michael in the corner. “Can I ask you a question?” he whispered quietly.

Michael nodded instantly.  “Anything bud, anything!” he said, patting Gavin on the shoulder.

Gavin took a deep breath. “It’s just… I wonder if maybe…”  The child nervously answered..

Michael watches the child gulp and lean back into his body.

“I’ve been thinking about this a long time, and I was scared to ask,” Gavin said.

Michael tried to laugh. “Ask me anything buddy, I’m all ears.“

Taking a deep breath Gavin summons all the courage he could find.

“Will you… Be my daddy now?  I miss my real daddy, but…  You’d be okay,” Gavin mumbled.

The room went silent.  All eyes from Ray and Lindsay and Miles, all were locked on his face.

Michael hesitated for a moment.

Gavin tried to smile.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to. It’s just that… You’ve been real nice to me. You were nicer to me than my real daddy was.  I like Lindsay as my Mommy, and wanna live with you guys.  I don’t like flying real fast, but…  I’m okay with that!  I don’t throw up anymore!” he said nervously.

Lindsay covered her face and looked away.  A mixture of delight, horror and joy were melded on her face.

Ray held his head down and turned to return to his cooking.

Miles and Kerry didn’t bother looking his way, and instead returned to patrol.

“I…” Michael responded.

The sound of Geoff’s loud boots could be heard clopping up the staircase. As he reaches the landing he looked Michael dead in the eyes. “I wouldn’t say anything Michael. Not until after we’re out of this mess, you understand?  Don’t answer that now, you’ll regret it,” Geoff remarked.

Gavin’s face dropped by a mile.

Michael caught the child’s distraught glance, and immediately plastered the fake smile on once again.

“Of course I’ll be your dad, no problem!”

While Michael and Gavin had a silent celebration with a big bear hug, Geoff looked away and shook his head despairingly.


	16. Peerless

> _After the war, there were many problems with United States reintegrating into the world. Lots of citizens were uneasy with becoming friends again with the people that had betrayed them in their time of need. Nobody blamed them, because we all felt like they felt._
> 
> _It was no big secret, and there were no excused to be had.  The world has abandoned the United States, for better or for worse. Instead of saving us and banding together, they left us to rot with the undead._
> 
> _The biggest reason for their desire for reintergration was that they now feared us.  Given our new superpower, it would have been easy to eliminate, and inspire fear to them._
> 
> _Revenge theorists became popular during this time.  Each and every one of them gave presentations to the new United National Bureau, the 50 person branch replacement for Congress in the 10 year reconstruction plan, which President Burns himself had developed._
> 
> _The most popular theory was dropping Lost in UN countries, to serve as a excellent example of what our country has been through.  ”Let them go through a tragedy like we’ve been through.  Otherwise, they will NEVER learn their lesson, “many people offered._
> 
> _There were also the people who want to do United States to be an isolationist nation, and to starve the world of our resources that we had always held control over.  Basic economic sweeps showed that the world was in a horrible depression, with only China maintaining most of the world’s debt.  World collapse was only a few years away, and anarchy was commonplace in weaker nations._
> 
> _They all had their points._
> 
> _Our government had a hard time deciding how to treat the world wanting us back.  Many of the President’s Cabinet, such as Secretary of State ramsey, thought everything was just a ruse, to see exactly how we had won our conflict with the Lost. Then of course, there with a few who had heard the rumors. Rumors about the lost still walking with our cities._
> 
> _Lost working in fast food joints._
> 
> _Whispers of the lost reanimated, and used for public service projects._
> 
> _As I write this book, I’m privy to details inside the United National Bureau.  I know that they’re going to allow ambassadors from the world nations to tour our reconstructed capital._
> 
> _They’ll see how we won, and for one brief moment?_
> 
> _We’re going to see the people that abandoned us shit their pants._
> 
> _-Loveless Chapter 16_

 

+

 

Weeks turned into months for the Austin CDC forces. Although the world they were currently residing in was a foul experience, there was an odd peace around them. The Lost kept away from the research laboratory, and it was only the occasional zombie that came that way. Miles and Kerry were often able to take care of them with long distance sniping, without any other Lost being any more the wise.

They tried not to think about the reason why they hadn’t been attacked by hordes.

Instead, they tried to enjoy the months of peace that they enjoyed while Kdin researched Dr. Maro’s genetic engineering.

With all of the supplies that have been kept inside the research facilities, Ray had been able to put some weight on the otherwise skeletal members of their crew. Food from the early days of the war that no longer existed, or which were hard-to-find.  Even during the front end of the Lost War, supplies had gone into freeze drying or long-stage storage.  One particularly delicious dinner had been a re-hydrated product known as a “Whopper”.

Gavin, Michael, and Lindsay were finally able to begin acting as a family together. Michael tried to teach Gavin how to play baseball, and only broke one or two windows in the process.  At the child’s insistence, Michael began showing him basic combat training with a knife, and taught the child how to fire one of their spare wrist-crossbows.  The child was gifted in archery, but nearly cut himself on twelve or more occasions with the knife.  

Then there was Lindsay.  Once she had calmed down to the overall experience that they’d gone through together, Lindsey began mothering Gavin incessantly. She made sure he always washed his hair and kept clean, much to his chagrin.  Though there was nobody else Gavin would rather be with when the thunder and lightning came ringing.

With the family aspect growing, Gavin’s acceptance with the group seemed to strengthen once more. It was as if, even though he wasn’t human, they all began to see past it again. Nothing has changed about their life together. He still asked stupid questions, still loved to play and laugh, and treated everyone the same as he had done before. It was like Michael had said, Gavin was still a child, no matter what he actually was.

One such peaceful day, the crew had sat campfire-style around a small fire they had made for the nighttime hours. They were all cooking a bag of rare marshmallows that Lindsey had managed to scavenge from a nearby convenience store.

They had been sharing funny stories from the training days and it was Michael’s turn to step up and share. The soldier leaned forward and smiled.

“So it was my third day with my trinity gear training, and I was just starting to get a hang on turning. So I had hooked onto the side of training pole, and was about to flip turn onto the next obstacle area. Unfortunately, I hit one hook into the pool and another into my instructor’s trinity gear. So when I tried to turn, I drug my instructor with me by his gear, and we slammed into three other students, and I then managed to get tangled up and flung a fourth one halfway across the training grounds. So there we were, all of us strung up like we were in some fucked up spiders web, and it took three technicians to get us all down. I broke three trinity gears that day. Needless to say, I wasn’t allowed to practice on the live course again until I’d mastered flying 101 again. I was embarassed out of my gourd, and thought I was going to die from the instructor’s GLARES,“ Michael explained, blushing slightly.

The group laughed loudly, mentally picturing the training fiasco.

Rolling her eyes, Lindsey landed a wap to the back of Michael’s head. “You think that’s embarrassing? Try this one on for size then. When I was in my third year of training, I was practicing with our crossbow sniper training, and there was this really cute instructor that I just could not take my eyes off of. He was tall and muscular and handsome with one HELL of a fine ass. I think he was Mr. Gibson or something? Anyway, I was little too focused on his butt, and accidentally shot my crossbow bolt in the wrong direction, so it ricocheted off of the wall and nearly took off one of my partners heads. I don’t think I ever had a worse ass chewing than that day in my life. I nearly got kicked out of school for that, “she explained embarrassingly.

Plopping his roasted marshmallow into his mouth, Ray shook his head. “My roommate and I? We smoked a few joints right before graduation, and after our live fire test had gotten passed. This was after he lost his parents in the mass exodus that happened in West Tennessee when all the Lost broke through the barrier. We got really wasted, like we’re talking pink elephant wasted. By the time we came down from our high, we were both stark naked and swimming in the fountain outside of the CDC. It was a miracle we didn’t get caught and court-martialed. Thank God we had a good buddy that let us borrow some of their fatigues for early morning roll call, and we never smoked a blunt again as long as we lived, “he said with a loud snicker.

The often quiet Kerry rose his hand as well. “During our outdoor survival training in a dead zone for Special Ops, I spent this one weekend out scavenging with a couple of buddies for some luxury resources . We came across this really weird store, that used to have like a lot of comic book like characters in it? I’ve never seen anything like it before my life, but I was still interested so I went in. There was a lot of cartoon porn in there, and these really big life size pillows. I had never seen any pillow that big before, so I grabbed like 15 of them and stuffed them in my knapsack to take back. I mean you guys know how luxurious a pillow is right? My entire floor was grateful and we all started sleeping on them. We had never had such restful sleep in our lives, although our commander started giving us weird looks. Though who wouldn’t, given that we were sleeping on half naked men and women? “He said jokingly.

Miles snorted. “I remember that! I think I still have that in our spare bedroom. My wife’s friends sometime sleep on it. Though I think you forgot the best part of that story! “He said snidely.

Kerry turned bright shade of red. “You swore you’d never tell that part! “He responded immediately.

Rolling his eyes, smile shoved carries shoulder. “He also brought enough fap material to last a lifetime for our whole floor! Both for the men and the women! He got cited for just distributing pornography!” He laughed out loudly.

“It’s called Hentai!  The history professor at the academy said so!” Kerry retorted.

While the campfire circle roared with laughter, small footsteps could be heard coming from the laboratory downstairs. Running up from the doorway Gavin leapt out of the lab and threw his arms around Michael’s neck.

Three fresh marks were on his arm, where Kdin has obviously been taking his latest blood samples.

“Kdin’s a meanie, go kick his butt, dad, “Gavin ordered to the newly found father.

Smiling brightly, Michael ruffled Gavin’s hair, and put the child on his lap. “No problem, I’ll be more than happy to oblige you. Wedgy or purple nurple? “He asked.

“Both? “Gavin replied with a devious grin.

Michael gave him a thumbs up just as Geoff and Kdin stepped out of the laboratory as well. Both men had dire looks on their faces.

” So what does the lab rat have to say about his research today?” Ray asked.

The group chuckled, knowing that every day it’s been exactly the same report. There wasn’t much advance in Kdin’s research.

Geoff cleared his throat. “Actually, we have some advances we need to discuss. Kdin? “ He explained, turning to the lab rat.

Clearing his throat, Kdkin looked down at the clipboard he had taken notes on.

“I’ll spare everyone the science bullshit, but needless to say, I have been able to trace through Dr. Maro’s research. Then by testing Gavin’s blood and cross referencing with her notes on the “perfect replica”, I’ve been able to come to a single conclusion. Gavin is the key that Dr. Maro was looking for. He has the treasure trove of genetics that she was aiming for, with one exception.  An exception which we can easily rectify,” he explained.

The room got very quiet.

Michael was the first to stand. “What does that mean exactly? “He asked.

Turning to Gavin, he sighed. “We need to inject Gavin with a special additive that was originally meant for the first Gavin. Once we do that, Gavin should be able to infect other lost and then control him, just like the Spawn do. It’s a concoction that shouldn’t take me more than a month or so to recreate, considering that her lab still has most of the notes and the original structures I need. If I had more help, I can have it done in a day or so, but there’s no sense in whining,” he explained.

Nervous glances were exchanged around the room. Lindsay took Gavin into her arms and held him tightly. Michael instinctively flexed his muscles, and moved towards Geoff and Kdin.

“Please tell me you’re not thinking of doing that to him. Please tell me that you’re not going to use A CHILD to wage war, “he asked in a quiet rage.

Geoff shook his head immediately. “I would never force a child to do anything. I would only ask that you give me the opportunity to ask Gavin if he would be willing to do this for us. This is not just our world, and not just our war. He is a part of this. This is his world he is fighting for his well, and if he’s the boy who I think he is, and after seeing him fly with you in the sky, I think your son is stronger than you give him credit for, “he replied, not breaking contact with Michael’s eyes for a moment.

Taken aback, Michael turned to Gavin. The boy was still in Lindsay’s arms, and wriggled away to pop his head out of her chest. He was staring back at Geoff.

Geoff stepped forward and moved closer to Gavin. “Do you understand what we’re asking you to do? We are asking you to get an injection to make you stronger, so strong that you can bite the lost, and then control them. So that you can order them to affect their own kind, and then allow us to finally make these monsters go away once and for all. We would help you, of course, but all of this stress is on your shoulders. Are you brave enough to do this?“ he asked.

Gavin forced his head down. He fiddled with his fingers momentarily, before turning to look back at his father. “Do you think I’m strong enough dad? “He asked right at Michael.

Michael was taken aback. He tried to put on that fake, plastered smile he’s gotten so good at. He knelt down towards Gavin and took the boy’s hands in his own.”Gavin, this isn’t an about strength. This is a choice you have to make, and it’s not an easy one. You’d have to go and bite the monsters. You’d have to get up close to them and actually bite them like they bite us!  I don’t want to make you do that. But, I do know you’re one of the bravest kids have ever known, “he answered kindly.

“As brave as you? “Gavin replied.

Michael chuckled. He bumped his forehead against Gavin. “Braver than me, that’s for sure, “he said.

After a short nod to Michael, Gavin began slowly walking towards Geoff. His stance was slumped, feeling nervous. He, however, stood his ground.

“I want to help, “Gavin said.

Michael shook his head. “Absolutely not, I’m not letting you put yourself in danger! “He shouted.

Gavin’s span around, facing his father.  “Please, I just want to help!  I want the monsters to go away, so they don’t hurt anyone like my real daddy ever again!   I just want the monsters to stop, and for us to be a family!” he whimpered.

Silenced, Michael could only stagger backwards from the child’s words. He could only watch Gavin  move towards Kdin and Geoff. He saluted them both.

“I want to help, whatever it takes, “Gavin said.


	17. Respectless

_I don’t pretend to be an authority on all things military.  Sure, I grew up for three years in military bases, my mother and father were professional soldiers, and my best friends were professional snipers, but I was never really good about following military regulation._

_What I DO know, however is the way the military is viewed these days._

_In the 60s/70s, during the initial outbreaks, the military was viewed as a corrupt and violent organization.  On the tail end of the Vietnam war, organized protests and civil disobediance was commonplace.  There were many who believed the “Lost” were just a government consipiracy.  When military units appeared in states offering to “relocate” citizens, nearly half of them spat in the military faces that were hoping to save them._

_After the news hit the airwaves, panic thrived.  The loathing of the military turned into a overbearing dependence.  Men and women of the Armed Forces (including the masses of civilian volunteers that popped up over the country) were the only ones capable of fighting back against the Lost.  Too many were empathetic with the infected, only to find themselves trying to “save” their sobbing friends and family, and quickly with their throat filled with teeth._

_A safety line was developed east of the Rockies, where the safe population found themselves begging for the loathed military to save them._

_Unfortunately_ _, a VERY exhausted Armed Forces home from Vietnam and being thrown into a conflict with the people who had thrown blood at them “needing” them meant morale was as a low unheard of in US history._

_The Rocky Line would fall, and another 40% of the US population would perish.  Suicide was at an all time high, and the war was almost lost._

_If it weren’t for the new military that popped up almost overnight, the “Research Army”, the entire nation would be gone._

_This “Research Army” was a group of medical soldiers from the Center of Disease Control who had been dispatched medics to attempt to treat the infections._

_They saw the devastation after the Rocky Fall, and took up arms to protect the civilian population.  Their knowledge of anatomy, understanding of how the “Spawn” worked, and excellent hand-eye coordination meant they were a force to be reckoned with._

_Nurses, doctors, medics, guards, and even candy stripers fought for three weeks to hold the line from Lost attacks._

_Even though they would fail two months later, these individuals sparked hope in the American people.  Newspapers had photographs of their bravery and strength._

_Volunteer units came in at an all time high, and was doubly effective in the medical community._

_After the Government recouped, the CDC was granted an additional branch to the United States Government._

_With their new funding, they created the CDC Freedom Corps, and earned the respect of the surviving population._

_The military was viewed in a new light, and the civilian population had a new found respect for their protectors._

_Wish I could say that this respect would last, but at the end of the Lost War?  Well, let’s just say that complacency and a sense of safety makes soldiers less than necessary._

_Loveless Chapter 17_

++++++++

After Gavin’s announcement to the team that he would assist in eliminating the Lost once and for all, Jeff and Michael had taken it upon themselves to train the child in combat defense. While Michael would be assisting Gavin infecting the Lost, there was always the chance that Gavin might have to face one by himself.  Besides, Gavin’s age is about the time most parents would teach survival skills anyway.

With that in mind, Gavin had been outfitted like the rest of the soldiers to make him feel like one of the men. Caiti, a skilled seamstress thanks to her medical training, was able to make Gavin a outfit just like his father’s. He had the same utility belt, and same line of weapons that most foot soldiers used. Like when training with his father, Gavin showed adept skill at crossbows, but wasn’t very good in a hand-to-hand fight.

During one such training session with knives, about a few days after the big news had been announced, Gavin had been knocked over for about the 10th time in an hour from Geoff’s overwhelming presence.

“Ow! “Gavin exclaimed. The boy’s knife fell across the floor, clinking as it skidded towards the the wall.

Geoff sighed, shaking his head as he stood over the child. “You’ve got to get better at this! I know that we’re gonna be there with you, but if you’re not careful, you might find yourself one day facing down a Lost by yourself. They don’t care that you’re only six years old or seven-year-old, or however old affect you are, how my supposed now? The point of the matter is is that they view you the same as they would view me or Michael. They would eat you in a second. Believe me, I know, “he spat out angrily.

Michael tried to turn away from the sight, ignoring the bruise on Gavin’s face. Geoff was pushing Gavin as hard as he could, just as tough as any of the other soldiers in their platoon. The commander wouldn’t hold back, even for child.

That fact spoke an odd volume for Michael.

"Don’t you think you’re going a little hard there Geoff? He’s just a kid, and he is new at all of this. Let them take a 5 minute break, OK?" he asked.

Geoff’s neck snapped to Michael in a flash. His anger at the child soon turned to Michael. “Do you think a lost will give them a 5 minute break? Do you think that our enemies inside the CDC are going to give him a five minute break? No! They would take his weakness and exploit it in a heartbeat. I am showing Gavin exactly what he’s going to be going through. If you have a problem with that ” daddy” then I’ll be more than happy to have you escorted out, while I complete his training. Got it?” he yelled.

Breathing in and out deeply, Gavin shook his head. ” I’m OK dad, I can keep going,” he replied reassuringly.

Before the two could go back to their combat or before Michael and Geoff could really go at it, they were interrupted by a very agitated Kerry. He entered the side room the occupied, then was clearly out of breath.

" We’ve got company! It’s Haywood and his platoon! They’ll be here in 5 minutes, and they’re moving fast. We don’t have time to escape!" he shouted.

Like a bat out of hell, Geoff shoved Gavin into Michael’s hands and stomped towards Kerry. “You hide him in the safe spot, and don’t let anyone get near him!  I’ll get Kdin to safety, and after they’d captured the rest of us and fled, it’s up to you three if we can’t stop them, it’s up to you three. You got it?” he ordered.

This was their sad contingency plan should things look hopeless. Geoff and the rest of the team excluding Michael, Gavin and Kdin, would sacrifice themselves so the three of them could survive. Not that the CDC corps would actually court marshal and execute them, they’d just probably be locked up in a military prison if they were captured.

Still, the prospect wasn’t all THAT inviting.

Doing as he was ordered, Michael held Gavin tightly in his arms and began running towards the downstairs lab. Kdin joined them from the rec area, and the three of them lept past the steps two or three at a time.

While Michael and Gavin hid inside a panic room to the side of the lab, Kdin executed the emergency lab lock. The staircase vanished, and any trace of the door that lead to them went back into hiding as usual. The only difference being that the exit couldn’t be opened from the outside.

Not willing to chance being caught with any illegal experimentation, Kdin ran to his lab equipment, notes, and basic chem supplies, stuffed them into his oversized lab coat he had acquired since moving into the lab, and joined Michael and Gavin in the panic room.

It wasn’t much of a sight to behold. Re-hydratable foods, a large water stash, and about a month’s supply of books were stacked neatly in a corner of a plain white room. It was carpeted in a hideous orange shag, and the white walls were covered in tacky photos of what the local area used to look like back in the 70’s.

With the three of them secured in the room, Michael keyed in the security code. The vault-like door slammed shut, and they were finally locked into place.

Michael shook his head. “How long?” he asked in Kdin’s general direction.

The ex-Haywood enthusiast shrugged. “Assuming that Ryan’s on our side, which I believe he is, he’s probably just going to grab our team and run immediately. He’s a good guy, but refuses to betray his country. He knows that Commander Geoff is the kind of man to have us being safe on our contingency plan. Ryan will follow his orders, obtain the “tratiors”, and go back to where he came from. The commander will bullshit his way out of explaining how we weren’t on site and had probably been moved before the attack. So I’d guess about a day and a half? We’ve got plenty of supplies, we’ll just have to be quiet,” he explained.

Pouting in the corner in his little soldier’s uniform, Gavin was sniffling.

"What about mommy? I’m… I’m scared for mommy! I don’t want them to take her away!" Gavin cried quietly.

Michael snickered to himself. “I wouldn’t worry about Mommy. Hell, if anything, they should worry about mommy!” he said with a gigantic smirk.

+++++

"TAKE THEM ALIVE, THAT’S AN ORDER!" Commander Haywood exclaimed. He was in his military whites, a gold and black trimmed garb with dozens of military awards hanging off his chest. It was clear that the man had been promoted in some way.

The sunset exploded a dark golden orange over the desert-esque layout that had one been a thriving sub-city.  Tumbleweeds scattered as the units drove in.

Commander Haywood’s men began piling out of their Mobile Combat Unit, and several others hopped off their solar-powered motorcycles. All of them brandished a police baton, which sparked with electricity. “SWAT” was written over their Military Uniforms, and each of them were wearing a form of a gas mask, as well as being fully equipped with bullet-proof vests.

They all ran to the laboratory compound with great haste, and wasted little time in reaching the first set of fortifications. Half a dozen cars had been piled near the front door, making entry a near impossibility.

The lead SWAT man began setting charges, before a bullet shot through the sky and hit him in the leg. A muffled scream made him fall to the ground, as all the members turned to the top of the building.

Miles was there, hiding underneath a tarp the same color as the roof. He was impossible to see from their angle, and the sniper took several more shots in quick succession. All were plainly “non-kill” shots, but were powerful enough to bruise, if not break, the bones. The sniper ammo wouldn’t go through the reinforced kevlar, but would still hurt like hell.

"Ragehappy!" Kerry shouted from the roof, watching the region with a pair of binocular while hiding behind an air conditioning unit.

From the inside of lab, two glass windows shattered, and two soldiers lept out of them. Ray and Geoff, with suped up Trinity Gears, fired their hip tethers, which anchored to the Mobile Command Unit. As they activated their pull function, both Geoff and Ray went through the soldiers like bowling balls, using their arms and legs to hook line some of the men that had stayed back from the initial units. Upon reaching the Mobile Command Unit, both men shot their wrist tethers to opposite sites of the street and were off without a second notice.

"JUGGEY!" Kerry commanded.

An explosive force from the inside of the lab’s front door blew back the detonation crew of the SWAT teams, back to the Mobile Command Unit. Out of the smoke and dust, Lindsay stepped forward. In both of her hands were electrified police batons, like the invaders had been using. With a smile, she shot her hip tethers to a side street, and began retracting them. The second string of fighters were coming towards her, only to find their chests and shoulders to be smacked with a good voltage of electricity. Many passed out on the spot, while two or three remained on their knees. Once she landed on the side of the building, Lindsay tethered her wrist units to the kevlar vests of the still standing soldiers. The retracted them, pulling the soldiers her way, where they both smacked into the side of a brick wall and fell to the ground with an audible thud.

"Caitillo!" Kerry shouted from the side of the roof, as Miles kept disabling foot soldiers that attempted to come their way. The crack of bones and groans of pain were becoming more and more numerous.

The screeching sound of fireworks shot from inside the building. Coming out of the broken windows, several hundred bottle rockets fired out of the room and towards the remaining ten or so soldiers. Attached to the end of each rocket was a syringe filled with an amber fluid, which many deflected off the kevlar armor. Unfortunately for the troops, their exposed necks and chins got caught by the attacks, and the automatic pin inside the syringe injected them with the solution. One by one, the SWAT team members began to shake and fall to their knees in a paralytic fashion.

With only the Commander Haywood and his personal attache remaining, Kerry grinned.

"LUNACROSS!" he commanded.

Miles threw off his tarped cloak and threw his rifle to the side. He equipped himself with his paralytic crossbow bolts, and moved to Kerry’s side. His companion was already prepped with his shotgun, filled to the brim with rubber bullets.

Both men fired their hip trinity tethers, and landed on the Mobile Command Unit. They flew across the sky, and towards Commander Haywood.

The Commander signaled to the duo. “STOP THEM!” he ordered in a worried expression.

Of the remaining SWAT guards, many of them began dropping their attack batons and worked to retrieve their pistols.

Too slow to keep up with Team Lunacross, the members found themselves hit with paralytic bolts, and many of them shot to oblivion with rubber shotgun pellets. They fell to the side painfully, cradling their injuries, or shaking as the paralytic solution went through their bodies.

Miles lept off once he landed, and came within an inch of Ryan’s face. He threw his crossbow right to Ryan’s neck.

The Commander threw up his hands with a smirk. “Oh no, I’ve been defeated. Whatever shall you do to me now? Take me wherever you need, just don’t hurt my men!” he explained sarcastically.

+

It had been the better part of six hours when the panic room’s intercom came to life.

"Red Roses" Geoff exclaimed.

Michael’s jaw dropped. Of their many codes, “Red Roses” was the “all clear” sign, meaning that the invaders had been fought off.

"You’re kidding," Kdin remarked, scoffing at the very notion.

After exiting the panic room, and reopening the staircase vault, Michael, Gavin and Kdin were presented with Commander Haywood and Commander Ramsey walking step by step together.

"So the CDC really bought that shit? They really thought a city SWAT team could really out-maneuver some of the most highly trained soldiers in the army? Soldiers who had been trained to fight in any environment, under any situation, and deal with fighting living humans or living corpses?" Geoff asked, with a seldom heard fit of laughter.

Michael watched Commander Haywood roll his eyes. “Anything that screams “cheap” to them wins every time. Besides, I had to get a team together that you guys could actually defeat and lock up pretty easily. People who would see me give up and not question it. People who would back me when I testify to the CDC Grand Court, admitting that I gave myself up in order to spare their lives. Did you see them applaud me when I offered to be chained up in the basement if they were given proper accommodations and medical care?” he asked.

The two reached the bottom floor. Michael, Kdin and Gavin shot them curious looks.

Commander Haywood smiled. “Now that I’m you’re “prisoner”, I’m here to help in any way I can. Kdin?” he asked.

Kdin’s smile widened. “This way! With your help, we can get this shit ready in no time! IT’s going to be a triple-” the man replied eagerly, beginning to speak a million miles a minute in “science-ese”.

Still totally confused, Michael turned to Geoff.

The commander seemed to smile ever so slightly. “We’ve got a new ally. Commander Haywood came to us in order to be defeated and taken prisoner in order to help us without breaking his commitment to the nation. While he and Kdin work on the formula, the three of US need to be getting back to work. Come on,” he remarked without a care in the world.  


	18. Deathless

_Genetic experimentation was outlawed ten years after “Victory in Washington” was declared.._

_The “Maro” Research was collected, burned, and never allowed to be viewed again by any but the highest echelons of Government._

_Present Burns stated that the reasoning behind the ban was:  ”The United States watched as Maro’s research decimated the Lost.  There are those who might choose to use that power for horrible things.  World Conquest would not be out of the question.  This is not the way that our new nation will behave,” he said during one of his States of the Union._

_There were, naturally, some dissention._

_In the end though, President Burns was probably right.  After all, it was only half a year later that southern border states made an attempted coup of Mexico as a revenge tactic._

_Had they had genetically altered assistance?  You could only imagine the actual devestation._

_-Loveless Chapter 18_

_+_

_+_

With Commander Haywood’s assistance, Kdin was able to complete the remaining formula for Gavin. He had also be able to decipher a majority of the complicated journals that Kdin hadn’t. Meaning that the mysteries of genetic engineering and cloning were now within his grasp.  The universe within the strands of DNA were no longer a mystery.

Geoff tried to ignore that fact, as their team assembled into their usual meeting room and around Ray’s cooking campfire.  Mugs of cocoa had been shared around, in nervous anticipation of what was to come.

"Already done? Damn, that was fast," Geoff asked, turning to Kdin and Ryan.

Nodding, Kdin reached into his labcoat and retrieved a syringe of grey matter.

"Yep. All ready for injection. Gavin?" Kdin asked, turning to the boy.

Gavin hid behind Michael, eyeing the needle nervously.

"Any side effects we should be aware of BEFORE you inject him?" Michael bellowed, shooting Kdin an awful glare.

Ryan shook his head. “Nope. All this is doing is activating DNA already in his system. His teeth are probably going to swell a bit to make room for the venom he’s going to start accumulating. Though that won’t be painful, more like just an inconvenience when he eats,” he admitted.

Miles smiled. “So after this, Gavin can start biting Lost and tell them what to do? How does that work exactly?” he asked eagerly.

"Just like the regular Lost infect us," Ryan said immediately. He watched as curious faces turned to him for an answer and he nodded in Gavin’s direction. "Gavin is going to be literally like a Human version of the Lost. He bites a Lost, the Lost considers him the Spawn leader, and takes any and all orders that comes into the victim’s head. Not that difficult, actually," he explained.

Gavin seemed to have his mind on something else, still staring at the needle in Kdin’s hands.

"Will it hurt?" the child asked nervously.

Kdin and Ryan exchanged a mutual nervous glare.

"No, never," they said in a unified lie.

Gavin saw through their lie, and immediately hid inside of Michael’s shoulder. Of all the things the child was actually scared of, it was the shot. Michael rolled his eyes trying to put that line of childish mental reasoning in order.

"Want me to hold you while you get the shot?" Michael asked kindly.

"I’m not a baby! I’m a soldier man like you now!" Gavin asserted immediately, palming his CDC badge proudly on his leather jacket.

Lindsay smiled from the corner. “How about Mommy?” she offered.

"Yes please," the child commented quietly, blushing in embarrassment.

Lindsay stood up, moving to the middle of the room. Gavin ran to her side as Kdin pulled out an alcohol swab and uncorked the syringe.

After putting her arms around Gavin, Lindsay hugged Gavin tightly as she pulled up the sleeve of his shirt to expose his shoulder for the shot.

Kdin hovered over Gavin, and began swabbing at the spot with alcohol. As he did, the room was eyeing Gavin cautiously.

In the far corner, Ryan and Geoff were standing nervously. Both men had their arms crossed and their still steaming cocoa ignored on the floor.

"You realize what this means, right? I mean, in the grand scheme of things," Ryan whispered in Geoff’s direction.

Commander Ramsey nodded. “It means that we’ll be able to annihilate the lost and put them under our control. We, the United States, will be in control of half of our total population again. Be in control of soldiers who can’t feel, can’t be in pain, and who can commit to total war. Each of their fallen becomes one of their numbers. We have the power that nations of the world could only dream of,” he remarked.

Ryan shook his head. “Almost correct. You kept saying “we”. The truth of the matter is that HE will be in control of all that power,” he answered, pointing to Gavin. The boy’s arm was filled to the brim with the syringe, and Kdin was injecting him with the solution. “A child. A child will hold all that power Geoff. You do realize what might have to happen, should he throw a fit and choose to use that power in a childish manner?” he asked.

"It won’t happen. Michael would never let that happen. The only reason I’m not following Burnie’s direction is because I KNOW Gavin would never hurt anyone. He’s a good kid," Geoff reassured.

Scoffing, Ryan shook his head. “He’s still got to grow up Geoff. Who knows what kind of person he might become, or what kind of people might get their hands on him,” he said, turning towards the circle of friends who were all patting Gavin on the back for bravely taking the injection. The child was rubbing the injection sight, where black veins began growing all over his body. Though just as quickly as they appeared, the veins vanished. Gavin’s eyes turned a pale shade of silver, but not much else seemed to change about the boy.

"There may come a time when he’s the monster that we have to fight next. Even if you won’t, I know that I will keep a close eye on him. I won’t let this disaster happen again, that’s for certain," Ryan proclaimed seriously.

+

After three days of letting the serem flow through Gavin’s viens, and upon examining a fresh set of fangs inside Gavin’s mouth, a team of three took Gavin out to the main streets to test his newfound abilities. Michael, Geoff, and Gavin were situatied on the top of a radio tower. Gavin was strapped into Michael’s Trinity Gear, while Geoff scouted the area with a pair of binoculars.

"Group of three, no good," Geoff muttered, turning to a new location in the area.

They had been searching for a solo Lost for Gavin to bite into. One that wouldn’t have friends to come and interrupt them.  One that could multiply into MANY.

"Any luck Michael?" Geoff asked.

Michael shook his head. “Nada. They never travel solo, but I thought for SURE that this far out there wouldn’t be as many. Hell, if we do see ‘em, there always together,” he responded.

Still strapped into the Trinity Gear, Gavin shut his eyes and concentrated. After a few moments, they sprung back open, and he pointed behind them. “That way.  There’s one by himself that way,” he instructed.

Michael and Geoff nodded immediately. Both men shot their hip tethers south from their location and began flying in the direction that Gavin had pointed out to them.

It didn’t take them very long to locate the individual. A man in a business suit, trapped between two cars and struggling desperately to escape. Half of his skin was melted off to a skeletal structure, and the Spawn within him could be seen inhabiting through a pulsating point in his chest. The Lost noticed them, and the once-male eyes focused on them.

"Please help… Help me… Help me to move.  HELP ME PLEASE!," the rotten Lost stammered out, reaching for the three men.

Geoff turned to Gavin. “You remember the plan, right? Michael and I are going to hold his arms with our gear, but it’s up to you to bite him from behind. Let the venom go in, and then RUN back to us. Understand?” he asked.

Nodding, the child strapped himself out of Michael’s gear once they landed to the street level.

"On three," Geoff instructed to Michael. Both men aimed their wrist tethers at the Lost’s arms. "One… Two… THREE!" Geoff shouted.

Their tethers fired and pierced through the lost’s palms. Running in opposite directions, both Michael and Geoff had the Lost’s arm’s separated and controlled with ease.

Following his orders, Gavin ran across the street and towards the Lost. He carefully edged himself around the car and made it to just behind the Lost. It was snapping at Michael and Geoff, who were still in its line of sight.

Gavin shook. His next step was the obvious step. He had to bite into the monster’s flesh and “infect it”. Though as he got closer and closer, the SMELL was horrifying. Like rotten food, mold, bad meat, and something out of the toilet. Gavin’s stomach churned and he nearly vomited at the sight.

"GAVIN, HURRY UP! HE’LL BREAK FREE IF YOU’RE NOT FASTER THAN THIS!" Geoff shouted.

Falling backwards, Gavin scrambled the back away from the monster.

"I… I… I can’t do it!" Gavin cried out, as tears began welling in his eyes. He shook violently and could barely stand the smell anymore.

Michael slammed his eyes shuts. “GAVIN, YOU’VE GOT TO DO THIS! PLEASE! I NEED YOU TO BE BRAVE, LITTLE SOLDIER! BITE THIS ASSHOLE, AND WE CAN BE A FAMILY, A REAL FAMILY! TRUST ME GAVIN, IF YOU DO THIS, EVERYTHING WILL BE GOOD AGAIN! WE’LL GET A HOUSE, A CAT, A DOG, WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT! WE’LL LIVE IN A HOUSE, YOU CAN GO TO SCHOOL, AND YOU’LL NEVER HAVE TO DEAL WITH THESE MONSTERS EVER AGAIN!” he shouted.

A second wind hit Gavin. His shaking slowed down, and the smell seemed to mentally lessen.

"COME ON GAVIN, I KNOW YOU CAN DO THIS! YOU’RE THE BRAVEST KID I KNOW! YOU’RE THE BEST SON I COULD HAVE EVER ASKED FOR!" Michael yelled again, hoping to rally the child’s spirits.

The Lost’s hand was beginning to sever itself on the tethered lines. It wouldn’t be long before he got free.

"Hurry up…" Geoff mumbled under his breath, trying to hold the line as tightly as he could.

Hiccuping nervously, Gavin cried softly as he got to his feet. In one sharp lunge, he opened his mouth, revealing a set of long fangs. He sank them into the Lost’s back, letting venom surge through the creature’s body.

The Lost screamed.

Michael and Geoff were shocked at the reaction. Lost didn’t feel pain, it was physically impossible.

It took Michael a moment for him to realize that it was the SPAWN screaming in pain.

Gavin held on for as long as he could, before pulling backwards and spitting out the disgusting black blood that the Lost had, as well as a disgusting brown goo.  The child starting to heave.

"GROSS!" Gavin yelled, running away from the lost and back towards his father and commander.

The three men watched the Lost slowly change. They watched as the spawn that was attached to his chest was writhing in pain, which was likely why the Lost was screaming. The black blob slowly transformed from a dark black into a dark grey, until finally settling into a pure white tone. A black skeletal bone sticking out of the man’s arm returned to the creamy coloring that a human bone would hold.

Their gross black eyes returned to its natural coloring. A light blue.

While it was clear that the Lost was still a monster complete with missing muscle tone and exposed bones, it had human-like qualities about it again.

Michael and Geoff moved closer and carefully retracted their tethers. The “Neo-Lost” didn’t snap at them, and seemed to stand at attention, waiting for an order.

"Go ahead Gavin. Ask it to do something," Michael offered.

Nodding, Gavin cleared his throat. “Um… Can you please clap your hands ttogether” he asked politely.

The Neo-Lost held up their hands and clapped i immediately.  

"Holy shit," Michael murmered, staring a million miles away, with his mouth agape.

"How may I assist you, master?" the Neo-Lost asked, bowing towards Gavin.

Geoff’s eyes darkened at the sight.


	19. Tearless

_The Battle of Atlanta is known around the world as the most one-sided battle in the history of humanity._

_There were zero human casualties, and over 400,000 Lost were transformed into the Neo-Lost with a force of 5,000 Neo-Lost soldiers.  Historians have already naked it the “Golden Battle”, a namesake to regard the battle for what it was.  A Miracle._

_The attack was commanded by Commander Geoff Ramsey and his cohorts.  Among them were Officer Luna and Officer Shawcross of the Trinity Blood Unit, Private Jones’ (Michael and Lindsay), Private Narvaez, Medical Liaison Ward, as well as Commander Haywood and Vice-Commander Jenzen.  There were rumors of a civilian child present, but there were never any confirmed reports._

_Official military records reported that Commander Ramsey had discovered a virus in the ruins of Maro Labs that was capable of pitting Lost against Lost, and turning them into our personal slaves.  After ten weeks of investigating, the military and shambling US government chose to clear Commander Ramsey and his troops of all acts or misdeeds._

_Besides Commander Ramsey, many of his men and women troops chose to go into “inactive” status, having served their mandatory time in the armed forces._

_For their bravery, and after the request made by Commander Ramsey, Private Lindsay Jones was promoted to a Commander to defend the Safe Zones and insure that the Neo Lost left in Atlanta could repel any attacks by the remaining Lost race._

_Her husband, Private Jones, chose to remain at his rank in order to stay home with their adopted son._

_Though it WAS rumored that Private Michael Jones was promoted to Black Ops for special undercover missions.  Some reported that a small child was seen with him during said missions, though no proof was ever found._

_During an interview with Commander Lindsay Jones, military reporters were sent away by army attack cats (still in experimental stages) when the topic of her husband and their child, Gavin Jones, was brought up._

_No man has dared to ask since._

_Loveless - Chapter 18_

 

-

 

(Six Months Later)

(Location:  Atlanta Front Lines)

 

The hordes of Lost were a stunning sight to behold.  Like a sea of people constantly in motion, their bodies one by one began piling up the massive stone wall that bordered the city of Atlanta.  Roughly as tall as the Empire State building, the stone and glass wall was tough enough to withstand the Lost’s physical strength, but not their numbers.  Eventually, as with every safety wall, they would overrun the wall, and pile up over a span of six months until they could reach the top of the wall.  THe Lost would then plummet to their deaths, creating a makeshift cushion for their fellow brethren.  By that point, only a few “sacrifice population” would be left to distract them from the retreating army.

A tall man in his early fifties, of an Asian descent and solid grey hair, stood atop this wall next to countless young men and women.  They continued to drop pyro bombs, searing and ripping the flesh off the lost.  Without flesh, the lost beneath them couldn’t find a good grip to climb.  Unfortunately, the sheer volume made it a losing battle.

The older man shook his head as a blonde woman in her forties attached herself with a Trinity Gear to land next to him.  She had a strong build, with massive shoulders and an intimidating presence.

“High Commander Oum, how goes the battle?” the woman asks, peeking over the wall.  Her face tightened.

High Commander Oum sighed.  “A losing battle, to be sure, General Kathleen.  Even with this wall being a good ¼ higher than the rest of the ones we’ve build across America, they still just ascend it like it’s nothing.  My troops are still trying their best to stop the pile-up, but there’s just too many of them to stop.  Within the next week, we’re going to have to seriously consider abandoning Atlanta,” he replied solemnly.

Kathleen’s face lost all sense of color.  “Please tell me that you’re joking…  Monty, Atlanta is where our LIFE is now.  It houses 50% of our country’s remaining population, and all of our research labs have been centralized here!  If we abandon this…  We’ll lose the fight in the end,” she replied solemnly.

“I’m merely stating facts.  I’ve seen two walls fall, and I know what’s coming.  I’m going to give my report to the other Generals.  Our forces can probably salvage most of our research data and move it to New York.  Since the Canadian trap wall is to our North, we can put all of our remaining tools into building the last line of defense.  Of course, by that, I mean that we put up the FINAL wall.  The wall where there’s no going back,” Monty explained grimly.

Looking out into the sunset that would soon bring darkness to the city, Kathleen folded her arms.  She watched as another horde of roughly 1,000 Lost were coming their way.  They’d arrive before dark fell.

“I’m so sick of this Monty…  Ever since I was a little girl, all we’ve done is RUN.  I’ve had twelve homes in the last decade, and my children won’t go to bed without the lamps being on and the Lost alert radio cranked up to full.  For the love of God, one night I walked in on my oldest son when he had the flu.  He actually said to me that he was ready to die if the flu took him.  Smithton is FOURTEEN!  God, I can’t stand this world anymore..” Kathleen mumbled.

Monty chuckled.  “Wait ‘til you’re my age.  Then there will be that brief moment between 7 and 8 AM when you wake up, and you’re still in that “Dreamy” state.  That moment when you secretly hope you’re in Heaven, Hell, or wherever the hell we go when we die.  God that’s such a lovely moment,” he explained sadly.

The two high ranking officers watched into the distance, watching as the other soldiers kept pelting the Lost below with pyro bombs.  Fire illuminated the quickly darkening area.

“HIGH COMMANDER OUM!” one male soldier shrieked.

Monty turned to one of his many scouts who surveilled the area with sniping equipment.

“What is it Jon?” he asked.

Jon, a man with curly brown hair and a thin frame, stood up from his position, shaking.

“S…  Sir, I think you need to see this for yourself!” he answered.  Jon handed his rifle to Monty, who immediately targeted the region that John was pointing to.

In the sights of the rifle, there was quite a sight to behold.  A horde of human-like Lost with shimmering blue eyes were marching towards the horde.  Each of them were wearing military-issue clothing and holding side-sabers like the army used in the early 80s.  In fact, most of the outfits they were wearing were from the older days of the war.  The only significance that made them lost were the melted-skin faces and exposed skeletons of those who were in the later stages of the disease.

“They’re organized?  God have mercy on us,” Monty mumbled.

Jon shook his head.  “N…  No sir, look at the very rear!” he insisted.

Monty did just that, pointing the rifle to the back end.  

He gasped.

In the very rear, surrounded by ten or more bulky Lost, was the disgraced Commander Ramsey.  The one who had orchestrated the rebellion in the Dead Zones and taken a squadron of troops out of Commander Haywood’s care for an unknown mission.  Commander Haywood had been promoted to High Commander and ordered to return with the criminal.  

None of that was really important at the moment.  

“Dear God…  They’re in military format!  Is Ramsey commanding them?” Kathleen exclaimed, peering from her own binoculars.

Monty put down his rifle.  “Call the Head Command, the President, and all combat units.  Get our probes to get us video feed, we need to see this,” he commanded, leaping off the wall and using his Trinity Gear to zoom through the streets of Atlanta.  KAthleen wasn’t far behind.

 

=

 

Geoff was behind their Neo-Lost army.  Thanks to GAvin’s instructions, they would obey his every word.  The boy had taken to hiding with Michael in the northern forests of Tennessee with a force of 25 Neo-Lost.  After six months of infecting and creating Neo-Lost, Gavin had seen more time and horrors than any child should have to see.  They had chosen to not participate in the upcoming battle, and would remain in hiding until an appropriate amount of time had passed.

Behind Geoff, was the rest of their crew, including Commander Haywood and his many SWAT team soldiers.  After Commander Haywood had explained the “plan” to them, they were more than happy to assist Commander Ramsey.  

After what seemed like a century of travel between the outskirts of Austin to Atlanta in the Mobile Command Unit, while drivingly slowly for the Neo-Lost to follow, they were finally upon the Safe Zone Wall.  The pyres from the Wall Defense Units led their way, and the view of the hundreds of thousands of Lost was more than enough to cause them to hesitate.  

Caiti stammered backwards with the back end of their unit, alongside Kerry and MIles.

“That’s…  That’s way too many!  How can we beat them with just our 5,000?” Caiti exclaimed loudly.

Kdin chuckled, following up the rear with communication devices strapped to his lab coat.  They had recorded GAvin’s voice multiple times, and would use them to control the newly infected lost as they turned.

“Based on my calculations, this is PLENTY.  The Lost won’t attack the Neo-Lost until the Spawn within them gets wiser.  Therefore, we’ll be able to supplement our forces quite nicely.  Not to mention that the Lost forces are vastly spread out around here, covering the wall on all sides.  We won’t be facing all of them all at once, and by the time they organize a counterattack, the Atlanta Defense Force will be in the battle as well.  All of this has been meticulously planned,” he muttered excitedly.

KErry and Miles cocked their rifles.  “And if they get too close, we’re not helpless, ya know!” Kerry exclaimed.

Geoff raised his hand to stop the babbling.  “All units stop,” he commanded.

The army of Neo-Lost did as they were told, stopping on the very end of Geoff’s words.  His five thousand soldiers stood before him, awaiting their next move.

Commander Haywood moved to his side, smiling.  “Are you ready?  Once we begin, everything is going to change forever,” he commented.

Nodding, Geoff took a deep breath.  “Wish the kid could be here to see what he’s done.  Though I guess MIchael is right in his own way.  Better the kid not know what kind of power he has.  Once this is all over, everyone is going to think that we’re the ones that did this.  GAvin, Michael and LIndsay can live a normal life, hopefully,” he replied.

Ryan bowed to Geoff.  “We all will.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get the SWAT team ready to return to Atlanta.  We’ll explain to the High Command exactly what has transpired and coordinate them as necessary,” he explained, turning away and returning to the Mobile Command Unit that Ray was driving behind them.

Geoff shut his eyes if just for a moment.

“This is for you…  Griffon…  Jessie…  I just wish I could have brought this sooner.  Still…” he mumbled, until he finally opened his eyes again.

“ALL UNITS, ATTACK THE LOST!  INFECT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM!  PUT THEM UNDER OUR CONTROL AND LET THIS DARK ERA BE FOREVER ERASED!” Geoff shouted at the top of his lungs.

In an instant, all 5000 Neo-Lost, Kerry, MIles, Ryan, Geoff, and the SWAT members were off in a flash.  Towards the horde that laid before them.

 

=

 

Against every moral bone in his body, Michael had listened to Gavin’s request.  He wanted to see the “Final Battle”, and there was something inside the child’s voice that made him want to respond.  

So Michael and Gavin found themselves atop the highest tree in the region.  They watched as Geoff’s army advanced against the Lost.  The enemies had no idea what was coming their way.

“So…  We can go home once all the bad guys are gone?” Gavin asked pleasantly.

Michael nodded.

“Yep…  After…  After today,” he mumbled, with a large lump in his throat.


	20. Loveless

_We’ve come to the end of my book, Loveless : A Personal HIstory of the Lost War, and I thank you for reading up until this point._

_I think I’ve covered everything I could think of.  Both things historical and personal that I experienced._

_Though…  Now that I’ve come this far, I hope to share with you a bit of advice I received from my father, MIchael Jones when I was about 8 years old after the Battle of Atlanta had taken place._

_He told me:  “Gavin, there’s a word I’d like you to learn.  It’s called “Loveless”.  It means the “absence of love”.  That’s the only difference between everything that exists in our world, and the Lost.  So long as we can feel love, it makes us who we are.  If you find yourself unable to hold compassion for the rest of your fellow humans, it makes you like those things down there.  It makes you a monster.  Don’t ever let yourself get to the point where you’re an empty corpse, just following the words of some master.  You’re stronger than that, Gavin.  We all are.  Just sometimes things get so bad that we let our hearts rot.  When our hearts are rotten, we can become puppets for others to use.”_

_I took that to heart.  There were days when I saw corruption, hatred, and inequality to our fellow man and Neo-Lost.  I wanted to scream in anger and last out at them.  Use my abilities to make change happen, no matter the cost._

_But then… I would be a monster._

_Luckily for me, I have a family who would stop me from doing anything stupid._

_I thank them all for raising me into the person I am today._

_Thanks dad, mom, my brothers, and my sisters, and all my crazy aunts and uncles._

_I know we went through a lot together, but I’m glad we all got out of it unscathed.  Well, mostly._

_-Loveless Chapter 20_

 

\

 

The battle of Atlanta waged for what felt like days.  In actuality, only 34 hours had passed.

The 5,000 Neo Lost had turned into nearly 100,000.  Then came the combined forces of the CDC Army, the many different militias, and the professional US Army coming to assist in the attack.  Standing on the walls, in the forests, and inside Mobile Command Units, nearly the entire standing army of the United States Government was in on the attack.  

Roused near “lights out”, many of the soldiers attacked in casual attire, if not pajamas.  Some of the lighter clothed men and women would find their attired ripped off during Trinity-Gear flight, exposing himself embarrassingly.  Though none of them wavered, and continued the fight.  Even with the endless waves attacking, there were visible gaps in the “Endless Sea” by the 12th hour.  

Even citizens were involved in the attack.  Many of them created makeshift medical and hydration tents for the extended battle.  Minature first-aid was given to soldiers who received cuts or injuries due to bad piloting or hand-to-hand combat with single Lost, or civilians would transfer the severely wounded (mostly from Siren attacks) to local hospitals.

Gunfire sounded in every direction.  From the snipers such as KErry, MIles and Monty, to the front line warriors like Geoff and Ray, utilizing the best weaponry possible.  There was no sense in being stealthy, they wanted the Lost to come.  

The battle around the city walls was intense.

Watching from high above, Gavin and Michael hadn’t taken their eyes off the site.  Even from their vantage point, they couldn’t see everything.  Yet, for the little landscape they could see, it was a remarkable sight.

The sea of bodies slowly evaporated as each hour passed.  Waves of the Lost, after all the hours, were now at the base of the city.  Many Lost and Neo-Life scattered the ground, dead.  Those that remained at the City Wall limits were those that had been attempting to pile up, many of whom were burning to death from the pyro-bombs.  The others were being eaten by the Neo Lost and in the midst of their transformations.

IT was roughly 1 in the morning, the world illuminated by the moon and fires.  There were less Lost in the front lines than they’d seen out in the Dead Zones.  That fact was nothing short of a miracle.  The deadliest zone in the United States was..  Clear.

Gavin was snoring in his Trinity Gear harness, having fought off sleep as long as he could.  

The radio at his hip began screaming static.  

“North Wall is down to 9,000.  Move all available units to this position.  West and East walls are clear.  I repeat, West and East walls are CLEAR,” the radio operator announced.  He was near hysterical, almost snobbing.  Michael didn’t blame the man.  He’d be crying too, if he’d been given the honor of announced two vital walls were cleared.

“They’re actually doing it…  My god, they’re actually doing it!” MIchael shouted.  Careful to not wake Gavin, Michael shot his hip tethers  to attach to the city’s wall.  Retracting, he was pulled forward quickly, and he began to run up the wall to reach the top.  He dashed quickly to the middle of the West Wall, and looked inside of the city of Atlanta.

Despite the late hour, the city streets were PACKED with citizens and military leaders.  Round the clock directions were being given.  Apparently Geoff had given the Neo-Lost to other units, and they were being used even within the main city for transporting materials.

Turning around, Michael tried to look behind him in the direction they had all traveled from.  Lost corpses trailed the road.

Michael glanced at the child asleep in his body.  This small child had made everything possible.  Everyone would want him for his abilities.  The world would despise and fear him as a tool of American War.  He’d never know peace and quiet as long as he lived.  

“Jones?” Geoff asked.

His hip radio was squawking again about the North Wall engaging the enemy.  Michael ignored it, watching as Geoff landed on the wall’s ledge next to him.

Michael looked away.

“Sorry geoff, I-” MIchael mumbled.

“I’ve already taken credit for finding the Neo-Lost virus.  The Government is already hounding me about it, even while we’re in the middle of battle.  Kdin and Ryan has agreed not to say a word.  I’ll spend the rest of my life with the world thinking I control these things,” Geoff explained.

Michael turned back to Geoff.  “You what?!” he exclaimed.

The old man smiled.  “I told them that the report of Gavin Free being found was false.  I explained that there was an orphan found in the ruins of a city who had amnesia, and who you and your wife named Gavin Jones.  Ryan and Kdin supported that statement.  Gavin should be free to do as he pleases now,” Geoff said, taking a deep sigh.  

Blinking wildly, Michael stepped closer to Geoff.  “Why’d you do that?  Don’t you know what this means?!  My God, you’re going to be a target for everyone to obsess over!” he shouted.

“Not really.  Nobody’s ever going to know about Gavin, Maro’s clones, or that virus.  Ryan has the genetic write-ups memorized, so I’m sure he’ll have SOMETHING, but our story is never going to be told.  Take your child and live your life.  Be happy.  Know love and happiness the way I never got to,” he said sadly.

Both their radios rang in unison.  “SOUTH WALL IS CLEAR, I REPEAT, SOUTH WALL IS CLEAR!  ALL SOUTHERN UNITS ATTACK THE NORTH!  WE’RE ALMOST THERE!” the radio operator shouted.

Both men stood in silence as the minutes turned into hours.  They listened as the sounds of gunfire and groaning began quieting.  After a while, it was more like popcorn that had finished popping.  Just a seldom POP every now and then.  

Breathing in and out, MIchael couldn’t contain himself.  “What do we do now?  All we’ve done our whole lives is fight.  That’s all I’ve ever heard out of people.  “WE will fight!” “We will fight!” “We will fight until the very end!”.  Well now we’re at the end…  What’s next?” he asked.

“NORTH WALL IS CLEAR”

Gunfire ceased.

Geoff collapsed to the ground.  He curled up into a little ball as tears began falling down his face.  Michael did the same, landing on his rear and hugging Gavin tightly.

“We will Live…  We will live,” Geoff repeated over and over again, as the City of Atlanta began cheering as loud as a football stadium.

 

_

 

Epilogue:  We Will Live

 

(Thirty Years Later)

 

A tall man in his later 30’s snapped his book shut.  “Loveless:  A Personal Account of the Lost War” was written on the title and “Written by Gavin Jones” on the subtitle.  

Sighing, the blonde male with the thin frame threw the book on the bench he was sitting in.  Austin Park was in the middle of reconstruction, and he had been watching as local landscapers attempted to grow several public farmlands for the starving population.

It had been a long thirty years.  Most major cities were getting repopulated at last, and “normalcy” was finally a thing again.

Though the Lost weren’t completely gone.  Little patches would show up here and there, which were the responsibility of “The Hunters” to find and eliminate as they were called in.  Some would be turned into Neo-Lost, or some might just be killed on sight.  It all depended on the urgency, and based on the judgement of each individual hunter. 

Throwing back his long ponytail, the man stood up and stretched.  His wilderness coat, combat belt and crossbow hung off his skinny body.  A prominent triangle badge with an olive branch was spread across his back.  He was a rugged man, with scars and scratches over his body, alongside a muscular tone that was hidden under the thick leather fabrics.

“AH!  It’s a Hunter!” a little girl screeched.

Turning around, the rugged man watched as a little girl ran up to him and hugged his hips as tightly as she could.

“Well hello there!” he replied, ruffling her hair.

She looked up, beaming with her three missing baby teeth and vivid red hair.  She couldn’t be older than seven or eight.  “Thank you Mr. Hunter for keeping us safe!  What’s your name?  Are you staying long?” she asked in quick succession.

He chuckled.  “My name is Gavin Jones, and I’m visiting family.  My mom and dad planned a big family reunion, and I haven’t seen my little brothers and sisters in FOREVER.  Carl is about to graduate from medical school, Ty is about to be promoted to a Commander, and Sara was just announced to be a part of the President’s cabinet.  MAkes me feel like the loser of the family,” he laughed loudly.

The little girl shook her head wildly.  “Nuh-uh!  Hunters are the coolest!  They’re saving us from those mean ol’ dead guys, AND you work for the President!  I want to be a Hunter some day!” she announced, very confidently.

Gavin smiled. “Well, you certainly can do it!  You just have to work really hard, and be willing to fight monsters.  Can you do that?” he asked.

Nodding wildly, the child let go of Gavin and picked up a nearby stick.  “I’m going to be the best hunter EVER!  I’ll beat up all the monsters and make them never come back.  I wanna be like Commander Lindsay Jones, the lady from the history book!  She was so COOL!” she announced.

A sneaky little grin covered Gavin’s face.  “Say…  Where’s your mommy?  Because I bet I’ve got a great big surprise for you if your mommy would let you come to my mom’s house!” he announced.

The girl frowned.  “I don’t got a momma.  She and my daddy died by the monsters.  I ran away and live with the other orphans in the shelter.  It’s not fun,” she pouted.

Gavin’s eyes widened.  “You mean nobody takes care of you?” he asked, clearly disgusted.

She shook her head.  “Nope.  Mrs. Patillo comes by and cooks us dinner though!  She’s kind of like our momma,” the girl answered.

Thinking slowly, Gavin turned around and picked up his book.  He pocketed it and knelt down the girl’s level.

“What’s your name?” Gavin asked.

The girl dusted off her hand on her torn jeans.  “My name is Carly!” she announced.

Gavin smiled.  “Well Carly…  Would you like to come with a Hunter?  We live outside a lot, but Hunters also get fancy hotels when we’re not hunting.  I bet traveling around the US would be fun, and I can teach you how to be a Hunter.  Just like my Dad taught me to be a soldier!” he asked.

Carly’s faced beamed.

“YES, YES, OH MY GOSH YES!  COME ON, LET’S GO KILL THE MONSTERS,” she replied, grabbing GAvin’s hand and trying to pull him up.

Gavin chuckled.  “Well, first thing’s first.  Let’s go meet Grandma and Grandpa.  I bet they’d be happy to see you,” he answered.

Walking hand in hand, Gavin and Carly walked out of the park and towards the local apartment complex.  “Hero’s Villa” was written in the iron gate above them.


End file.
